Reaching Higher
by DragonDavester
Summary: Everyday life is filled with Heroes, whether they be professionals or innocent civilians. In today's society, those with powerful enough Quirks use their unique abilities to defend those who can't defend themselves. However, sometimes these Heroes are faced with tragic loss or horrific consequences that make them question their resolve. If that happened to you, what would you do?
1. Chapter 1

*******Author's notes to follow the chapter*******

* * *

It was like standing on the edge of a war-zone.

Fire and smoke filled the air as the villain rampaged without anyone to stop it. Heroes ran back and forth trying to keep people safe as well while explosions went off wildly. Those who tried to help were forced back in an effort to avoid being caught in any of the blasts and injure themselves trying to save the hostage. People on the sidelines watched fearfully as they were unable to assist and yet unable to escape as well.

All except for one teenage girl standing near the front of the crowd with a distant but petrified look on her face. For her this was like reliving her worst nightmare...

* * *

She was a young girl again, watching with tears while her mother held her close as debris and fire rained down around them. Most of their home had been reduced to nothing but rubble, however they had been fortunate enough to escape unharmed thanks to the efforts of her father - he was currently out trying to defend others in the neighborhood from the villain that was lashing out.

She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew from pictures she had found in albums that had once existed in their home that her father once knew the villain who was destroying everything.

At first, the attacks and damage had been random and without targets as the villain had thrown objects left and right without a care about what he damaged. As soon as her father had stepped into his view however, things had changed.

It almost seemed like he had been looking for her father. She knew that he was a Pro Hero as well, but he had never done enough to have a foe of his own. It was rare for any hero, save for someone as great as All Might, to have someone targeting them specifically. All Might stood as the symbol of peace and justice, after all. Of course aspiring villains that wished to tip the balance would go after him. Her father just did his job and protected people without trying to stand out too much. But now it seemed that didn't matter as the two continued to battle in the streets while people ran for safety now that the villain was preoccupied.

The girl and her mother would have run as well if it weren't for the debris that had fallen on her parent's foot. Some of it had damaged her ankle and left her unable to walk to safety. Her mother had pleaded for her to save herself, but she had refused to do so. She looked up to her father and the Hero business too much to run away from danger and the people she cared about, even as a young child. And so all she could do was stay wrapped in her mother's arms as she watched the destruction rage on in front of her eyes.

The mystery man's hand thrust out to the side for a moment before a large chunk of a building broke off and went sailing towards her father, whose body grew as he caught the debris in both arms and thrust it to the side where it wouldn't hurt anyone. The man then reached out his other hand behind him as two small vehicles began to float and then sail in her father's direction as well. Once again he reached out both hands and grabbed onto the flying motor vehicles to stop them from crashing into anything before setting them down to the side. The man seemed to smirk for a moment before his eyes turned somewhat and fell upon the girl and her mother. They widened briefly before a sadistic grin fell upon his face and he reached out both of his arms in different directions. He moved his mouth, likely saying something to her father while his body tensed up and his head turned slightly to see his enemy's family out of the corner of his eye.

Moments later, multiple pieces of debris varying from playground equipment to slabs of concrete to larger vehicles began raining in their direction. The girl lost sight of all of them moments later however as her father stepped in front of her and her mother, his body growing to the largest size she had ever witnessed him grow. Her eyes shut with fright as both the shadow of her father and the oncoming debris passed over them. Sounds of crunching and banging sounded from above as the wreckage pounded into his form, the occasional grunt coming from him.

Things were quiet then for a few moments, the young girl opening her eyes to see what had happened before her father fell to one knee and then slowly shrank down to his original size in front of them. At the same time, the mystery villain slowly started walking towards them even as her father began to struggle back to his feet. A spurt of blood came from his mouth as he coughed roughly before he wiped an arm across his mouth and took up a fighting stance.

Her father slowly started ambling towards the man even as the villain continued his slow march towards them, a look of indifference now etched across his face as though he was disappointed at the way things had gone. To the girl however, all she saw was a face that would haunt her dreams for years, the sight of that sadistic grin never leaving her mind's eye.

The villain stopped a little away from her father even as he continued approaching, his body tightening as she saw both of his fists clench before he began to increase his gait towards the person that had caused so much damage. Nearing the unknown figure, her father cocked back one arm to deliver a vicious punch to the face of the man. As it neared him however, he raised one hand slightly and she saw her father's form stop in place even though the man had not laid a finger on him.

His muscles could be seen visibly contracting through the shreds of clothing that remained on his body, most of it having been torn by the assorted raining trash he had physically blocked with his body to protect everyone when he couldn't resort to grabbing it out of the air.

The girl saw both of their mouths move while they had a conversation as though they were two friends who haven't seen each other for a long time. Or rather, two rivals. Two very different, tough, and terrifying _rivals_.

After the two finished their discussion, the villain simply looked at her father with a raised eyebrow for a moment before shaking his head in disappointment. He swung his hand to the side and her father's form sailed through the air like a ragdoll, landing roughly amidst some of the leftover debris that had been scattered during the battle.

The man then turned to look at the girl and her mother, the girl feeling her mother's arms wrap tighter around her. She was trembling and the girl didn't know if it was because she kept screaming her father's name or because she was afraid of the frightful figure that stood before them. But, despite the fear her mother felt – and she felt it as well - that they would be next, the man simply turned and began walking away. His hands now limp at his sides, his interest in the area seemed to vanish after he had defeated her father.

That mattered little to her or her mother a moment later however, as she felt her mother tug on the sleeve of her shirt, begging her wordlessly to go ahead of her and see if her father was alright while she crawled behind. Once she had neared him, she fell to her knees at the sight of her bloodied and bruised parent lying on the rubble. His chest sharply heaved up and down as he struggled for breath, a large metal bar jutting out of the side of his abdomen that he had likely landed upon when tossed to the side. By the time her mother had reached the same spot, all sound had disappeared. The girl could barely even hear her mother's sobs or her father's hoarse voice as he reached out for the two of them, tears filling his eyes as he tried to hold onto those he cared about in his final moments.

It was then that the girl began to cry anew, tears of despair now replacing the tears of fear that had previously occupied her cheeks. She pleaded for her father not to die. As if that would do anything.

She had looked up to him ever since she had known what Heroes were and, after discovering her own Quirk a few years prior, had insisted that he be the one to help her master it. She wanted to be a sidekick with him when she was old enough to do so. She wanted to be with him just a little bit longer. That dream now rapidly fell away around her as the light slowly left his eyes and his own body seemed to slow down as he said his final words.

"Look after your mother…Kaori…"

And then he was gone.

His head was held gently in her mother's lap as the girl, Kaori, felt her entire life collapse around her.

* * *

These same feelings began to rush up now as she witnessed a boy's face, filled with desperation and fear, emerge from within the large sludge villain. Heads turned moments later as one of the Heroes yelled out for someone to stop. Kaori – now a teenager - looked over to see what the commotion was as she had been snapped out of her reminiscing by the sharp change in the crowd's focus.

Another young boy, around the same age as her from the looks of it, had started sprinting for the villain at the same time that Kaori had seen the boy's face within the villain's grip. Was it something about the look in his eye, or did they happen to know one another?

Those thoughts didn't matter as much however, as one particular thought invaded Kaori's mind after so many years: Here was a boy, trapped in the clutches of a villain and at his mercy with no heroes around to currently save him.

It reminded her so much of what had happened to her years ago that she had to stop herself from running in alone. As much as she would have liked to help, she knew that her skills with her Quirk were not yet sharp enough to stop a villain on a rampage.

The day her father had died, she had hung up the idea of being a hero as the only reason that she had wanted to in the first place was to work alongside him. She had never seen someone die from a battle before, and so after seeing her own father perish doing his job she had given up for the fear of losing her own life. Her mother had still insisted she get better with her Quirk so that she would still be able to attempt to defend herself since that was still allowed within the laws surrounding Quirks. But, in the end, she couldn't do it. She was afraid. She was a coward. And she knew it.

She'd accepted it.

But then this boy, out of nowhere, decided that he would risk his own life and safety even though none of the professionals were able or willing to intervene. Kaori's eyes widened as he threw his backpack at the villain, its body flinching backwards slightly from such a mundane object. The boy began clawing at the sludge surrounding the other young man, to no avail.

Kaori's eyes filled with worry that the boy with the messy hair would soon meet the same fate as her father as part of the villain's sludge body began reaching for him. Her hands clutched tightly at her sides and she bit her lip in an attempt to keep herself from losing control. To keep herself from panicking at the monster's quickening pace.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind came from behind her and a large man grabbed onto the boy's arm before his other fist swung out and dissolved the sludge monster with one punch. It was as he turned around to hand the two boys over to the other Heroes, as well as the police, that Kaori realized it was All Might himself!

Later on, as the crowd had dispersed Kaori could see the Heroes talking with the two boys - one of them being berated for putting his life in danger while the other had been praised for trying to defend himself with his explosive quirk despite the chaos it had caused. Kaori didn't care as much about the boy being praised, however. She was more occupied with the amount of criticism the other boy was receiving over trying to help. From where Kaori had been standing, none of the heroes were moving in to help the boy and instead had chosen to wait for another hero to appear and hope that the boy with the explosion power would be able to hold out for long enough.

It was as Kaori thought about that, a brief memory of something her father had told her came back to the front of her mind.

" _It doesn't matter who you are or what you're capable of. If you see someone in danger you should do everything you can to help them, no matter what anyone says. The law around Quirks may not let you use your powers to be a Hero, but that doesn't mean you can't save someone without it. A Hero is made by what they choose to do, not by what they're capable of._ "

Kaori had to rub her eyes briefly even as she shook her head. What an idiot she had been. She had taken everything her father had stood for and practically spat on it without realizing what she had done for so long. How could she admire what he stood for and then at the same time stomp on his ideals while other people did the very same things he would have done if someone were in danger?

It was at that time that a fiery passion filled her soul once again. A light that had long since dimmed now swelled forth within her heart as she looked down at her own hands, now clenched in front of her. She knew what she had to do.

…Right after she went and got the groceries she had gone downtown for.

* * *

A woman with long, flowing white hair currently stood over the stove in the kitchen, a light humming sound coming from her throat. Her hands stirred the items in the pan gently and she smiled as she taste-tested the product. All she had left to do was to put the finishing touches on what was to be supper that day.

But, her eyes briefly wandered over to the front door of their apartment. She had been waiting for said finishing touches for nearly an hour. Her mouth scrunched into a frown and she reached for her phone just off to the side. Just as her fingers brushed the smooth plastic surface however, she heard the latch on the door shift as someone entered.

A young girl with shoulder length white hair stepped through the doorframe with a plastic bag in one hand and a determined look in her hazelnut eyes, much like those of her father. One of the woman's eyebrows arched with a curious look as she took notice of the tenacity within her daughter's eyes. It was rare to see her so fired up nowadays, so it must have been something special for her to come through the door gasping for breath.

Maybe she had found a boy that she liked? As nice as that seemed, that would not necessarily be a fun conversation to have.

"Sorry I'm late mom, things got held up by a villain attack down by the supermarket today. All Might took care of it though, so everything's fine. I got the things you wanted for supper."

The older woman turned back to the food on the stove as she gestured towards the countertop where an empty space was set aside for the food that had been purchased.

"Just set what we'll need for tonight on the counter, there. The rest can go in the refrigerator for another day."

The younger girl quickly moved to the counter where she put out a medium sized plate and dropped a few round shaped sweets. She hesitated then put a couple more on before throwing the rest into the fridge.

"I swear though, you go through that stuff like your life depended on it. I hope you can get a job one day that will be able to afford your eating habits when you're living on your own. I can't believe how much groceries cost us somedays."

"I can't help it mom," Her daughter chuckled nervously, "I can't go a day without at least one of those in my stomach. I can't help what I like."

"You will when you can't afford it every day." The older woman stated matter-of-factly before plating the food she had prepared for the two of them.

After setting the food at the table, the two then sat down and began to silently enjoy both the meal and each other's presence. Though, one of them was slightly preoccupied as she looked over towards the sweets sitting on the countertop waiting to be devoured.

Kaori took a quick glance at her mother to make sure she was looking at the news on the television while she ate, as per usual, before turning back to face the countertop. In a fraction of a second, her eyes lit up a light purple and one of her hands, hidden beneath the table, began to glow in a similar hue. Across from her on the kitchen counter, a perfect copy of her limb appeared near the plate of sweets. Just as the floating hand started to reach for one of the sweets, a harsh sound of a throat being cleared could be heard coming from her mother's direction.

Kaori looked over to her mother, who had now turned to face her daughter with a reprimanding look, and gave the woman a sheepish grin. Because of this slight distraction, her eyes returned to their hazelnut colour and the hand over the plate of goodies faded. With a shake of her head, her mother only sighed for a moment before returning to her own food.

"You know that's not what you should be using your Quirk for. You should be practicing using it for the day when you get a job. Having an extra reach like that could be immensely useful for many different careers."

The younger girl groaned from her side of the table as her head fell into one hand that sat propped up on the table. "Mom, I know that you talk about working multiple jobs like it's easy given what your Quirk lets you do so, but what if I don't want to do that?"

"Then what, pray tell, would you do for a job in the future, Kaori?"

"…"

Her mother looked at her in confusion for a few moments as the silence dragged on longer than she expected. In an attempt to avoid her mother's gaze, Kaori looked off towards the wall awkwardly before turning back to her food.

When it didn't seem like the young teen would be providing her with an answer any time soon, the woman simply sighed before getting up to gather the dishes and take them to the sink.

"…I want to be a Hero."

The sound of shattering dishes filled the air as her mother dropped the china onto the floor. Her face, filled with shock and perhaps a little fear, turned to face her daughter who simply continued to sit and stare out the window.

"What was that, Kaori?" She asked with a nervous smile on her face, "I swear I just heard you say you want to be a Hero."

The younger girl turned to face her mother, that determined and undaunted look now back upon her face.

"That's because that's what I said, mom. I want to be a Hero."

* * *

 **So, first things first. To those of you who haven't read any of my previous works, hello! My only previous works (of note) have been within the RWBY universe, so this is my first real attempt at branching out. And honestly it had to be something like My Hero Academia considering how moving and amazing this show is. For those curious about how far into the show/manga this is going to progress, I can't say for certain just yet as I know that the manga will receive quite a few updates before I catch up to it with this story as I will be updating it on a bi-weekly basis while I continue to work on my current RWBY story.**

 **I am also receiving some assistance from another author on this site by the name of 3VAMM3, who has her own MHA story titled Siren. (It's quite good, and should be getting an update within a week or two, so I definitely recommend giving that a read as well for those that haven't seen it yet) She'll be doing revisions/giving me feedback on my story as I write the chapters for this story when able so thank her for this story not having quite as messy grammar. I'm still working out those kinks in my work before I go onto something bigger.**

 **Anyways, I hope that anyone that reads this is intrigued at what is to come, and feel free to ask me any questions or give commentary if you feel the need!**


	2. Chapter 2

Kaori's mother stood with an uneasy look in her eyes as her mouth opened and closed several times, unsure of what to say. Her daughter, meanwhile, continued to stare at her mother with an intense conviction she had not witnessed for years - It was as though she was a girl possessed, the expression being too foreign for her after so long.

Her throat cleared awkwardly as she a shaky smile made its way onto her face. "Are you sure you're not tired from running home so quickly, sweetheart? Maybe you need to lie down and-"

"I'm not tired, mom, and I know what you're trying to do," Kaori interjected with a hard tone. "I'm not five years old anymore. That trick won't convince me to go and forget about what I was talking about like it doesn't actually matter. I'm serious about this."

Her mother's eyes looked at her pleadingly for a few brief instants before she dropped the façade and placed a hand to her forehead with an aggravated sigh.

" _Why do you always have to be so much like your father?_ " She wondered to herself as the girl in question continued to simply stare at her from her spot at the kitchen table.

Her mother raised her head and crossed her arms before giving her daughter a sterner look. "Alright, say I believe you this time. Say I believe that you want to willingly throw your life into harm's way even after witnessing what can happen to those that do this for a living. What changed?" Her voice slowly began to rise in volume as she continued. "After your father died, you were terrified of what it meant to go against criminals if it meant that they could very well do similar, or even worse, things than what happened to him. You gave up on training to fight, and decided that you wanted to live a more peaceful life if it meant you would live longer. Why would you suddenly change from that path and risk cutting it short?!"

The near shriek of her mother's final words made Kaori flinch somewhat, as it had been a while since she had heard her mother raise her voice to her. She shook it off quickly, however, and returned her mother's steely glare with one of her own.

"Because I refuse to be a coward any longer!" Kaori yelled, "It was a mistake to think that I could live my life and not feel ashamed for not being there to help others when they needed it most! To hear some of dad's own motto repeat back in my mind like a whip and tear away at me every time I look the other way or try to ignore the situation! I can't deal with it anymore!"

"You seemed to be fine up until now!" Her mother shouted in return. Their voices were now turning into a battle of wills in their own home.

"That was before I nearly saw someone die again, right in front of me!" Kaori's voice nearly cracked in that moment. She slumped forward in her seat as her hair fell in front of her face somewhat and her shoulders shook with sobs. She did her best to continue, but could barely make it past the scattered hiccups that jumped in her throat, "I w-was terri-f-fied! I th-thought that it w-was h-happening all over again!"

Her mother's face fell at the sight of her daughter suddenly breaking down in front of her. It took but a brief moment of astonishment and uncertainty before the woman finally stepped forward to kneel down and hold her daughter close. Kaori responded by wrapping her own arms tightly around her mother's body like a vice as the remembrance of the day's events came back to haunt her just like the death of her father had earlier.

"Shhhhh…" Her mother calmly soothed her, rubbing small circles on the girl's back, "It's okay. No one died…" She leaned back and looked at her daughter with a gentle expression adorning her face. "Right?"

Kaori shook her head with a teary smile, words unable to form at the moment as she reached over for some tissues. A few seconds of clamorous nose clearing and eye wiping later, she was able to finally speak once again.

"No. But that was only because All Might showed up. None of the other Heroes could save them with everything going on."

"And that's because that's what heroes like All Might do. They save people." Her mother stated matter-of-factly. "But you're just one person. Could you even face a villain after what you saw when you were a child?"

"I wouldn't have a choice, mom." Kaori responded with a resigned tone. "Heroes face overwhelming odds on a regular basis. They do it because people like us can't on our own. But I refuse to be the damsel in distress if I have the power to do something."

"Honey, even if I were 100% behind this idea, you haven't practiced fighting or using your Quirk for combat for nearly 6 years. You couldn't even stand in a boxing ring after what you saw happen to your father. You were that afraid of fighting. What if you go to face a criminal and you freeze up?" Her mother grabbed onto both her shoulders firmly as she stared straight into her eyes. "I couldn't bear to lose you, too. Please don't do this."

Kaori's eyes welled up with tears once again as she shook her head with a sad expression. "I'm sorry, mom. I'm not backing down this time. I can't insult dad's memory like that. Not again."

Her mother sighed forlornly as she got up and looked to her daughter briefly. "Alright. I guess I know what we need to do next is then."

She then started walking down the hall before opening a closet door closer to the landing. Kaori silently followed, curious as to what her mother was referring to before seeing her crouch down and pull out a small dusty book from the small room's confines. Her eyes widened with realization as she noticed which closet this happened to be.

Turning to what appeared to be a specific page, her mother walked back to the kitchen and retrieved the phone from its cradle on the countertop. Her hands seemed to hesitate above the buttons, her fingers shaking as she paused before the point of no return. As she turned for a last look at her daughter, the same fire that she had once seen in the eyes of her deceased husband stared back at her. At that moment she knew this was the life her daughter truly wanted, even after all this time.

The woman's hands steadied while her fingers punched in a set of numbers before she hit the call button. Her breath came out in a slow, measured pattern to attempt to calm herself as she heard the call get answered from the other end.

"Hello? Who is this?" A gravelly voice came over the handset and carried into her ear, "What do you want? I haven't got all day, so make it snappy!"

The woman's eyes softened somewhat at hearing the familiar tone of voice in her ear after so long. But then she remembered why she was calling and her face took on a steely expression once again before she cleared her throat with a light cough.

"Is this Maki Muay Thai? I have someone I'd like to sign up for lessons."

Kaori's eyes widened in surprise as she heard the words come from her mother, though her reaction went unnoticed as the woman continued to listen for the response on the other end.

"The slots for those lessons filled weeks ago. Why are you calling now?" The voice was curt but curious as it came through the speaker and into her ear.

She was silent briefly before a knowing smirk came to her face and she spoke into the phone once again.

"I was hoping to enroll her in lessons, but I understand if the window has passed. Thank you anyways. Though I was hoping you might be able to pass on a message to the owner for me."

The person on the other end scoffed before replying. "I'm not sure what daft ideas you have in your head, lady, but only one person works here and that's the damn owner. What do you want?"

"I have a daughter that needs to be able to defend herself from any trouble she may get herself into." She turned so that her eyes were trained on Kaori as she spoke her final piece. "And I'm positive that the mentor of her deceased father and the person who had tried once before would be the only person appropriate to help her."

A sharp intake of breath sounded over the earpiece as the person on the other end was caught off guard by the statement. The voice then came through after a short reprieve while Kaori's mother waited.

"I thought that after what happened, I'd never get to hear your voice again, you know." The voice sounded gentler now, though also sad at the same time. "It's good to hear from you again, Hannei."

"It's nice to talk to you too, Koushi." Her voice was softer now as well as the two long acquaintances spoke to each other once more.

Maki cleared his throat on the other end before responding. "If it were anyone else calling me that, I'd smack them upside the head. But I guess you still remember that soft spot I had for you and that daft husband of yours. Now, what was this about a daughter looking for training? Which one is it?"

Hannei's laugh echoed through the silence of the apartment, much to Kaori's surprise before her mother responded with a wide smirk on her face. "Oh, shut up you old coot. You know there's only the one. You were practically insisting that we sign her up with you once her Quirk was discovered. Something about no other teacher being able to handle the offspring of your most troublesome student without screwing things up."

A hearty laugh came from the other end this time, the man enjoying the conversation just as much as Kaori's mother now was. "Fine, fine. You got me. But I wasn't wrong about the slots being full for this season. She wouldn't be able to sign up until next year."

"See, that's a bit of a problem for us to be honest." Hannei replied with a grimace on her face.

"And why is that? She's not intending to try for the Hero Course, is she?"

Kaori's mother was silent as she tried to find the best way to respond to the direct question without being completely obvious. However, her silence was as good as a solid confirmation for the older man on the other end.

"Is she as stupid as her father?! This close to the Entrance Exam's?! Has she even said where she intended to go?"

Hannei was about to respond before realizing that Kaori had, in fact, never mentioned such a thing as of yet. Her focus turned back towards her daughter who stood silently watching the one-sided conversation.

"Kaori, sweetheart." Hannei started with a carefully precise tone, the action of which caused a shiver to travel down Kaori's spine suddenly. "What school were you thinking of applying to?"

Kaori's face blanched as her mouth began to flap open and shut without any sound coming out. For a moment, Hannei had thought she heard her say something, but was unfortunately unable to comprehend any of it. Taking a step closer to her daughter she did her best to try and listen a little harder.

"What was that? Speak up, please."

Once again Kaori's mouth moved, but Hannei was still unable to clearly decipher what her daughter was speaking to her.

"Sweetheart, I still can't hear you. You need to answer louder." Her tone was suddenly much colder due to the lack of response from her suddenly quiet daughter.

"I SAID I WANT TO GO TO U.A.!" The young girl's voice whipped through the apartment in a loud frenzy. Her hands immediately flew up to cover her mouth and she gave her mother an apologetic look. She had placed a finger in her ear in an attempt to clear the ringing sensation currently going through them.

Still a bit rattled by the sudden exclamation, Hannei's attention went back to her colleague on the other line, "I think she wants to go to-"

"I heard." The man interrupted. He sounded calm… _too_ calm. "Bring her by in the morning. We'll figure something out. You still remember the address?"

"I-I do, but I thought you said-"

"Forget what I said. Just bring her by in the morning, and we'll go from there. I had better see both of you then, otherwise you know what to expect. That should be incentive enough, hmm?"

Hannei's face drained of colour, to which Kaori slowly started to back away out of worry for what had been said at that exact moment.

"Yes sir. We'll be there." With that, the phone line clicked dead and Hannei stood there silently, the device still held up to her ear tightly as she stared ahead with a far-off look in her eyes and a face as white as snow.

"Mom?" Kaori asked from the safety of the couch, looking over it like a frightened child – she may as well have been at that point, "Who was that on the phone?"

"Oh, him?" Hannei responded, unmoving. "He's the man that taught your father how to fight before he became a Hero. He even trained him a bit after as well, but we didn't stay in touch much after he passed away. He even tried to teach you a little when you were younger, before the…incident. I'm not surprised you've forgotten who he is, though, given how many years it's been. Why?"

"Because you looked scared of him towards the end of the call. What did he say?"

Hannei's eyes twitched at the unpleasant memories that had resurfaced once again due to her daughter's questioning, "Oh, god! There's no time! You need to shower and go to bed right now! Otherwise we'll be late getting there tomorrow morning and that is NOT happening!"

"Wait, what?" Kaori asked, confusion filling her face even as her mother started shoving her rapidly towards the bathroom before practically ripping her clothes off of her and shoving her into the shower. A torrent of freezing cold water slammed into her body half a second later, "M-MOM! THAT'S C-COLD! W-WHAT ARE Y-YO-YOU D-DOING?!"

"Making sure you don't have to face his terrible punishment even once in your life, that's what! You'll thank me one day! Now finish showering and then go straight to bed, young lady!"

Kaori's mind was filled with a plethora of questions as her mother retreated from the bathroom with her clothes in hand before shuffling back in just as quickly with some sleepwear in exchange. They would have to wait however, as the girl continued to slowly become a popsicle under the torrential downpour before adjusting the water to a more comfortable temperature and washing up for the night.

The next day was bound to be interesting, that was for sure.

* * *

 **Not as much to elaborate on this time around. So far this is just the world-building for the story and setting the stage for bigger things. It'll likely be another 1-2 chapters at least before we deal with the Entrance Exam or anything actually involving U.A. at this point just so that I can cover a few things first. For those joining so far, I hope you enjoy this story and look forward to more! I'll see you all on this story again in about 2 weeks, around November 2.**


	3. Chapter 3

Kaori's eyes bulged, or at least as much as they could when you were still half-asleep, at the sight of the large building in front of her and her mother. When she had overheard the conversation about getting her training for her application to UA, she had expected a typical dojo or a space inside of a rec center. Instead she had been dragged by her frantic mother – something she didn't recall seeing very often – towards what looked like a professional building that someone like a Pro Hero would use given its size and polished look.

"Kaori! Hurry up and get over here!" Her mother called from closer to the building, apparently having walked up to the main entrance while Kaori had stared slack jawed at the impressive sight. "There's someone you need to meet!"

It was then that Kaori realized that there was another person standing with her mother, and the sight of this person gave the young girl a sudden chill down her spine at his imposing stature. When her mother had spoken so casually over the phone as though to a family friend, she had imagined some old looking man with a hunch like in the movies. This was not even remotely the case as she nervously walked towards the two of them while her mother gave her an expectant look.

The man was large, there was no denying that fact. At a tall 6'3" and a very well-muscled build, Kaori couldn't help but feel a little worried as the man only appeared larger the closer to him she got. It didn't help that his body seemed ready to leap into action at a moment's notice, despite the gentle expression on his face as he waited patiently with her mother. His wiry grey beard and wrinkled face spoke of his true physical age, yet he was the picture of perfect health that even some people her mother's age would dream of.

"So this is little Kaori, huh?" His voice was surprisingly light, another characteristic that visibly caught Kaori off guard as she neared the two of them. His expression turned slightly sad as he turned to face her mother. "I guess you were right. She really doesn't remember at all, does she?"

Her mother looked bad with an equally disappointed look. "I'm afraid so. I was half-hoping that something would come up when she saw you again as I was getting ready this morning, but I guess the psychologist was right about one thing at least."

"Wait, psychologist?" Kaori turned to face her mother with confusion. "What are you two talking about, mom? Am I supposed to know him? Because there is no way I would forget someone this big or this old."

"Watch who you call old, child. Unfortunately though, your mother is right." The old man regarded her calmly as he turned and gestured for the two of them to follow him inside. "You see, and you probably already knew this, but I trained your father up to and including when he worked as a Pro. I even trained you for a few years when you were a little shrimp of a child, at yours and your father's insistence of course. Your mother here tried to argue against it, but with the hopeful and determined look you had on your face that first day that was so similar to that of your father's, neither one of us could say no. So we started getting you ready for training you for martial arts courses to get you ready for the future and everything was going fine. You were so devoted to getting stronger and better that I had to pry you off of the equipment when you were almost collapsing from exhaustion while you tried to prove yourself. I don't forget the lectures your mother gave your father and I anytime you would go home practically limp from your exercise. You had your father's heart, and it always worked in the end for convincing her to keep you here. But then your father passed, and you couldn't get into the mindset to fight without freezing up in fear and huddling up like a newborn anytime we got to the combat exercises with the other kids. We tried separating you and just have you work on your physical strength and endurance but you became so afraid of being here without your father that we couldn't rationalize keeping you in training when it was clear that your heart wasn't in it. So your mother took you home one day about 6 years ago, and you've never been back since. I honestly thought that was it when I saw the fearful look in your eyes anytime you looked around in here. So that brings me to the real point of this conversation." His expression turned serious and stern as he crossed his broad arms over his chest. "How am I supposed to believe that you really are ready to try again, and barely in time to start getting you into shape for your application to UA? What changed that seems to have brought that fire back into your heart, judging from the way your mother spoke on the phone yesterday?"

Kaori was dumbstruck as she stared at the man, no longer afraid of him due to his size but rather intimidated by the change in posture and demanding tone as the conversation had switched gears entirely. The way she had overheard it, her chance to train had all been guaranteed last night during the phone call. So why was he questioning her now of all times, when they had gone out of their way to be here so early in the morning? Was her dream this far, only to be crushed at the cusp as she stared into his questioning blue eyes.

"I…" Her voice cracked as she tried to start speaking, her voice somehow now gone despite having been fine mere moments ago. "I…I…"

The older man sighed as his arms dropped to his sides and he turned to face her mother. "I can't do this, Hannei, not again. Just…" His expression fell into a look of defeat as he turned once more and began walking towards one of the similar looking rooms running the length of the building, the only one that seemed to not have a light on despite every other space in the building being clear as day. "Just take her home. Don't let her convince you so easily next time, not if she's just going to be like this. I know that she can have that same fiery temperament as Akiyama, but you need to know when to say no when that comes out. For both of your sakes."

Kaori's mother bent into a slight bow even though the older man was turned away from them as he stood still as a statue. "I'm sorry for taking up your time, Koushi." Her mother paused briefly before walking up beside the man and standing calmly with him, leaving Kaori by the front door.

* * *

Kaori stood in silence by the front door as she looked over towards the two adults as they seemed to be having a conversation outside of the darkened room. She wanted to try to be a Hero again, she really did. But was this older man right? Was she really ready for this, if she actually had practically been afraid of this place since she was young? It would explain why her skin had seemed to crawl as she had looked around the inside of the building after stepping through the main entrance. Had she really insulted her father's memory that badly, to not only have practically ignored his own mantra, but to also shy away from the very place that had made him into what he had been? Had she really been broken that badly from her father's death?

If what the man said was true, then she had. And she couldn't even remember it. That thought alone brought burning tears to her eyes as she looked around once more, even though that lingering feeling of wanting to leave this place as quickly as possible sat in the back of her mind. She was older now though, and she was more determined. She had a new reason to fight, rather than blindly following in her father's footsteps. The young boy that had run carelessly into the alley the other day had seen to that.

And so with that thought in mind, and that fire blossoming in her chest once more, she walked over to what she seemed to guess was a supply closet before grabbing a few tools to get started.

* * *

"I really wish you could have been there last night when she spoke to me after dinner, Koushi." Hannei spoke softly as the two stared at the door to the darkened and closed off room in front of them. "I wasn't imagining it; she really did seem to have that spark back from before…before he died." The hesitation in her voice made it clear that the event from years past still plagued both of the women in different ways. "If it had been anything else, if she hadn't practically cried herself dry, I wouldn't have believed it. She really did seem deadest on trying again, even if she didn't realize it due to the trauma."

The man nodded mutely as he hummed in acknowledgement of her words before going silent once more. His eyes widened a moment later however as he turned to face the woman swiftly, a strong look of curiosity evident on his face. "Wait, crying? What happened that would have had her like that and yet want to be a Hero again? That doesn't make any sense."

"I imagine you heard about the sludge villain that All Might had defeated yesterday?" A simple nod was all she needed before she continued. "She saw it all; she was at the front of the crowd watching. A young man was being held hostage and was trying to break free using his own Quirk. Whether it was because he was inexperienced or because of the sheer damage caused, no Heroes could actually get involved and rescue him. But then another boy ran out from the crowd and tried to distract the villain with his knapsack before trying to free the hostage. Then All Might arrived and saved the two of them before anything worse could happen. All she could do was stand and watch like the rest of the crowd, but this child ran out at his own risk to try and help. Kaori said that it reminded her of Akiyama's old saying that he used to quote to her all the time, but…I can't remember it anymore for the life of me. It's been so long."

The older man, Koushi Maki, recited the motto he had heard himself numerous times over by memory, much to the surprise of Hannei. "It doesn't matter who you are or what you're capable of. If you see someone in danger you should do everything you can to help them, no matter what anyone says. The law around Quirks may not let you use your powers to be a Hero, but that doesn't mean you can't save someone without it. A Hero is made by what they choose to do,-"

"Not by what they're capable of." A lone voice from behind the two of them caused them both to turn in surprise to face the newcomer to their conversation. Their eyes both widened further at the sight before them.

It was Kaori, practically armed to the teeth with assorted cleaning supplies as she looked at the two of them with a fiery look in her eyes once more.

"I'm assuming this was dad's old room back when he used to come here?"

Koushi shook himself slightly to relax his posture as he had felt his whole body tense up as a result of his years of training and fighting. It was an old habit that he knew was impossible to break given his experiences and teachings that he gave. It was then that he got a wide smirk on his face as he regarded Kaori's current situation. "It was, yes. But I don't see the point in you cleaning it up if it's not going to get used."

"And who said that?" The younger girl challenged back, much to the increasing amusement of the man as his smirk grew wider.

"I believe I did, when I judged that you weren't ready to start again."

The girl's expression hardened as she walked between the two of them and reached out for the door to the closed off room. As much as she didn't know it, it wasn't just her father that had used this room. She had insisted in her younger age that she practice alongside her father, something that wasn't unexpected of a child following in their parent's footsteps. Though it had happened rarely in Koushi's lifetime that a child would actually choose to follow their parent's line of work when they knew the dangers associated with it. Kaori's reaction to fighting and training after her father had passed was expected, much as Koushi had wished it hadn't happened. Seeing someone close to you leave like that was bound to cause problems. The loss of some of her childhood memories due to trauma was a testament to that.

* * *

Her fingers hesitated over the handle to the door of the dark workout room, her body seeming to freeze once against out of fear on the cusp of her next leap into the future she desired. Was this really it? Was this as far as she could get before the towel had to be thrown in and her dreams crushed under the weight of the trauma from 6 years ago? Her other hand, currently clutching numerous cleaning supplies clenched tighter around the handle of the bucket she held as he reached that little extra way and grasped the handle of the door.

Not this time. Too many things had been taken from her as a child for her to willingly let something be taken from her now. Now, her future was hers to control. Starting with making this space into her own (once more) for her preparations for her next step on the road to being a Hero.

There was only one problem that she realized, as the door swung open and she reached inside to flip on the light switch to brighten the room before getting to work.

It was completely immaculate. No dust. No spider webs. Aside from a few dents in the wall of varying sizes, the entire room seemed like it was already prepared for anyone to get started on exercising. It was Koushi's voice that ended up snapping her out of her shocked state.

"What, did you think I left this place all dirty and decrepit after your father passed away? Even if I didn't want anyone else using his space, I'm not going to just leave something uncleaned from lack of use like some slob. I have a livelihood in this place, and I'll be damned if any of it falls into disrepair because I was a weak-hearted fool." He turned to give Hannei a nod as her face lit up with joy, a few tears streaming from her eyes.

"Oh, and by the way kid, you pass." The perplexed look on Kaori's young face must have been what set him off as he doubled over with loud mirth at her face. "You honestly thought I was going to just throw you out like that? I had half a mind to at first, to be honest, but from talking with your mother I was willing to try something else to test your conviction. But in the end you beat me to it by opening that door to you and your father's old room on your own. If you couldn't do that without running away or freezing up entirely then that would have been it. You wouldn't have stood a chance. But here you are now."

"Wait, hang on. You…tricked me?" Kaori tilted her head questioningly as she stared at the old man with a look of barely filtered frustration as his words caught up with her. "You were willing to subject me to mental torture to see if I was ready? What kind of mentor are you?!"

His expression turned cold as he stared back with no emotion on his face. "The best kind. I will test the limits of your endurance and break you to make it so that you can reach a level you have yet to experience before. You will face days that will leave you questioning your resolve and make you wish you had given up when you had the chance. Once we begin, I will not take no for an answer after what I have seen today. Is that understood?"

Kaori's body went rigid as she felt obligated to regard him with the utmost respect at that point in time. She barely noticed the carefully held back enjoyment her mother was having if not for the hand covering her mouth as she snorted at her reaction to Koushi's intimidating speech. "Yes, sir."

"No, not sir. This isn't the military. In here, unless I state otherwise, you will refer to me as Sensei until I feel you have reached the point you are meant to be at. Now, I'll try this again. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sensei."

"Good." His posture relaxed as he relaxed from going into his lecture stance, or at least that's what Kaori called it. "Now, there is still one thing I need to do even though I still have the file with information on your Quirk and the practice you had when you were younger. I need to see how much muscle memory your body still holds after 6 years as well as how much we'll need to work on to get your body ready for heavier workouts and proper use of your abilities in the future. Come here." He gestured to a space directly in front of him with one hand expectantly. Kaori stepped forward after a moment of confusion as she did as she was told. But why did he need her to stand there of all places?

Her question was answered seconds later when he placed one hand on each side of her face as she began to feel a tingling sensation travelling throughout her body as his hands made contact. Her eyes looked up to see what he was doing, only to notice that his eyes were closed as he seemed to be humming in thought. After being subjected to the…admittedly odd experience for nearly a full minute, he let go of her head and stepped back with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Well that's promising. It doesn't appear to have deteriorated much over the last few years as much as I had feared. That should make things easier." He mumbled to himself, though loud enough for Kaori to hear given their proximity.

"I'm sorry, but what was that?" Kaori asked, now very curious about both what had just and what the man was talking about.

"Oh, sorry. The hand thing, right?" Koushi started as he came out of his thoughts. "By the way, I'll give a pass on the Sensei thing for now, but when we get started you aren't forgetting that if you know what's good for you. Anyways, that was my Quirk. It allows me to analyze a person's muscle mass by sending electrical impulses directly through their brain to tell me how strong the muscles are. I can also study a person's muscle memory for certain fighting styles and see where there are holes that they need to improve on. Luckily for you, even though the memory had disappeared a little over time, your body still appears ready for the most part to go through martial arts training again, we just need to increase your strength and endurance a bit first. I hope you like long runs and lots of lifting and punching."

Kaori's face fell as she started to realize that even though Hero work was tough, it was actually the training to get there that was likely going to feel worse at first. But she knew that this was inevitable. She may hate it, but it was necessary to prepare her for the future. And so it was with that thought in mind that she gave a solid nod of her head before bowing out of respect to the man in front of her.

"I'm ready, Sensei."

* * *

 **So. Big apology time. I know that this chapter is late, and I'll absolutely take the blame for that. It's been a very busy week and I didn't have my days off from work when I would have liked to check in on this story of mine. 3VAMM3 also has been having a rather hectic time, so she wasn't able to give this chapter a look over like the first two. So any errors in grammar or spelling are entirely my fault to take. She may be able to still give the chapters a look going forward, but I'm not going to push in case it's too busy or something like that.**

 **I will still be doing the usual once every two weeks on Thursday like usual, so don't be worried about this suddenly being a Sunday update instead of Thursday. Just thought you all should know about some of the potentially minor alterations to things going forward. I am in no way done with this story, and it'll be a long and cold day before I quit a story so soon after starting it. So there's no need to worry there. Aside from that, I'll see you al again in about a week and a half. Excluding those of you that may also be reading my RWBY stories on the side, of course.**


	4. Chapter 4

And so, for the next 10 months, Kaori trained.

The initial weeks were exhausting as she was forced to relearn martial arts and increase her endurance so that she wouldn't tire out immediately in a fight. The 6 years she had spent idling at home and school after distancing herself from her dream had weakened her body from what it had once been. Not many children had been as practiced at hand-to-hand combat as she had been at a young age, but now she was the one having to play catch-up just to be able to stand a chance at the Entrance Exam in the fast approaching future.

Every morning was met with an early rise as the sun would crest the horizon, followed by a long run to keep her endurance and cardio in check. From there it would be off to school after a quick breakfast for her daily lessons after which point she would arrive at the dojo to work on her muscle training as well as learning the finer details of Muay Thai and the martial arts that she would be eventually employing in the days to come. Weekends would still have her going for runs and practicing with a punching bag at home, but it would have less exercise so that she would have more time for any homework that was required for the next week. All in all, it was a noticeable change in her lifestyle. Something that even some of her classmates and friends - especially those that had distanced themselves after her opinion on hero work had changed - took notice of.

It was on one rather ordinary day during a break between classes that some of her friends ended up questioning her on it. That had been one of the other things Kaori had come to dread after she had committed to training once more. For so long she had essentially told people to not think so highly of Heroes because of the danger they got into, and now here she was about to jump headlong into it without a second thought. She should have realized that her new choice was bound to blow up in her face at some point. She just hadn't expected it so soon.

* * *

"What do you mean, you're going to try to be a Hero again?!" One of Kaori's friends, Yori Nakajima, nearly interrogated her roughly a month into her training. "I thought you said that you had given up on that after your dad died?"

"Yeah…I did say that, didn't I…" Kaori sheepishly replied as she scratched the back of her neck nervously, now wishing she had longer hair to better hide her face and burning red ears. "…But people can change! What's so weird about me wanting to give it another shot?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you turned into a complete sourpuss anytime Hero work came up in conversation!" The other girl snapped back, uncaring of the odd looks that some of their classmates were giving them while the two talked in one end of the classroom. "We couldn't have one conversation about them with you around without you killing the mood trying to derail the conversation or something! So I think we have every right to be a little upset that suddenly you happen to be changing your mind without even talking to us about it!" Her expression changed to one more gentle and caring as she reached out and took Kaori's hands into her own, her tone of voice also following suit soon after. "We're your friends, Kaori. You're supposed to be able to talk to us about stuff like that rather than doing it alone. I thought we promised when we were kids that we wouldn't keep secrets like this from each other, especially since I can literally read your surface thoughts by looking at your face. I wanted to give you time to talk about it on your own, but after a whole month of you pretending like you training and getting into better shape wasn't a real thing, I couldn't just stand by and wait anymore."

It was true. She had tried to keep it a secret from her friends, but when one of them could read your thoughts by staring into your eyes it became increasingly difficult to hold anything back from them. It was made even more challenging when they became incredibly pushy and confrontational when someone purposefully held something back in conversation. But at the same time, it was one of the reasons that Yori was one of Kaori's closest friends. Her Mind's Eye made getting to the base of a problem incredibly easy and often times resulted in a much faster solution than trying to ask blindly.

The sounds of light and eager clapping came from off to the side of the two of them, snapping them out of their heartfelt moment.

"Does that mean we can finally go?" Kaori's other friend, Chiyoko Miyamoto, asked with a light voice and a bright smile on her face.

Kaori hesitated for a few brief seconds, something that did not go unnoticed by the other two girls. The light in Chiyoko's eyes dimmed somewhat as she knew what something like that meant, as it was not the first time she had seen it in her lifetime. Yori's grip on Kaori's hands tightened further as she shook them slightly to signal Kaori to look at her.

"Hey, no one's pushing you to do this. We only just found out that you want to try being a Hero again. We can do this at your own pace. It's just nice seeing an old part of you come back."

Kaori smiled sadly at her friend's thoughtfulness in the situation as she shook her head slightly before turning back to face Chiyoko. "Chi, I know that this is something you've wanted me to do for a long time now, but I still don't think I'm ready yet. I don't think I'm ready." She went on however, even as her friend's head dipped somewhat in disappointment. "But I will promise you this. I may have said that I never felt comfortable to do that in the past, but one day that will change. So you better keep your phone on you at all times for when I make that call. Got it?"

The nod and bright smile that returned to her friend's face engraved itself on Kaori's mind as she made a vow that she would follow through on what she said. This had been something that Chi especially had wanted her to do for some time. It still made her skin crawl whenever she thought about what it would mean or how it could go…but the same fire that made her want to be a Hero again would make sure that she didn't break that promise.

* * *

Kaori smiled nostalgically to herself as she stood outside of the building that the U.A. Entrance Exam was to be held. That day had not started out well when Yori had originally confronted her in front of the entire class. It had taken some strong convincing to let her pull her and Chi aside to just talk to the two of them, though that had proven fruitless as Yori's initial outbursts had more or less told the whole story to their class. Of course there had been those that doubted she was being honest or those that thought it was some sort of bizarre joke, but that mattered little to Kaori as long as she had the acceptance and forgiveness of her two best friends. She had been telling the truth to Chi that day though, and even Yori had been able to tell without reading her thoughts. The three of them had known each other for too long at this point for there to be any doubts. She did want to have that conversation one day, but she wasn't mentally prepared for it yet.

Besides, it's not like the place Chi wanted to go was moving anytime soon. It could stand to wait a little longer until she was ready. One day…one day…

* * *

Her ears were still ringing slightly as she walked out of the lecture hall with the rest of the Hero applicants, the loudness of Present Mic being vastly superior to anything she had ever heard before. One thing was certain; he was clearly the man they went to whenever an announcement had to be made. But would it hurt him to tone down the volume a bit when he wasn't fighting crime or talking on his radio show? Kaori was certain that someone had to have complained in the past, but then what could you do when your powers literally turned your voice into a megaphone?

She shook her head to clear her thoughts as all of those currently gathered stood gathered outside Stadium D, the one that Kaori had been assigned to as according to the card she had been given for the Entrance Exam. She could see numerous people with fairly obvious Quirks scattered around her, but others she could not tell so easily due to them looking like ordinary people, much like herself. She would have to be careful how she fought so that those with more powerful Quirks wouldn't be able to steal any points from her if she couldn't defeat the foes quickly. But to run off on her own could also prove too challenging and she could end up in over her head if she wasn't careful. So it was that she decided to skirt along the edges of the group once the fighting began if only to keep some distance but not too much.

That thought finished just in time as moments later the large metal gates crashed open as a loud horn rang out to signify the start of the test. Kaori's moment had arrived, and there was no way in hell she would ever let this opportunity pass her by as she charged in with the rest of the applicants.

As the group of aspiring teens charged into the battlefield, Kaori broke off slightly from the larger crowd and set her eyes on a smaller crowd weaving into some nearby back-alleys. It would be considerably easier to gain points if she wasn't trying to compete with dozens of other kids.

Their wait was brief as a pair of 1-point robots came skirting around the corner of a building towards one of the applicants. Kaori wasn't sure what kind of power the person happened to have, but she did know that one of the robots was in range of her powers as her eyes began to glow purple. Her right hand also started glowing the same colour as a replica the size of a human being appeared just in front of one of the robots, it's momentum carrying it right into the palm of the larger hand. She winced slightly as she felt the force of the impact echo to her own outstretched hand before she clasped it into a fist and pulled back her arm as though preparing to throw something. The machine's body made a crunching sound as the duplicate hand closed around it's torso before being whipped off into the distance where it happened to collide with a 2-point machine that Kaori had spotted further away. The impact of the speedy robot against the side of one of its bulkier partners caused it to explode in a shower of scrap and metal, though the tougher robot was still standing even though it had a sizeable dent in the side of it that seemed to be hindering its movement.

Kaori turned her head slightly to see what had become of the other robot, but her curiosity turned out to be pointless as the machine happened to be trapped within a cluster of vines that had burst from the ground. Looking behind her, she noticed that a girl with hair just like the vines happened to be standing still while looking directly at the machine, making it obvious that the vines happened to belong to the same girl.

Her eyes turned ahead as she continued her approach towards the machines in the distance, her focus set on the enemy that she had already wounded. Her Quirk could only reach so far however, and so she was forced to continue running alongside the other teens that were deadest on the easier target to gain the points. Due to being heavily focused on the foe ahead, nearly all of them missed the other 2-pointer that happened to be coming at them from an opposite road. It was only due to a sudden tug on the back of her tracksuit that Kaori narrowly avoided being slammed into by the charging metal husk and injured early into the test. Another quick look back told her that the girl with the vines had grasped a portion of her outfit at the last moment and pulled her out of the way just in time while another teen with a fire Quirk roasted the machine to cinders after taking a deep breath.

Kaori waved a quick thanks to the vine-haired girl before setting off once again, her brow furrowed out of frustration as she had once again fallen victim to tunnel vision. It had been one of the things that she had been warned about while training her Quirk under Maki's supervision. Due to needing to have a direct line of sight to use her powers, she relied too much on what she could see in front of her and occasionally forgot to check the other angles or trust her other senses to keep her out of harm's way. A few choice bruises and lumps delivered from other trainees at the dojo had seen to that when Maki had her perform training exercises with multiple opponents. Some things couldn't be rid of in a short amount of time, unfortunately, and old habits were hard to break when she was so used to just focusing on what she could see due to it being years since she had been in any actual combat prior to training.

Unfortunately for Kaori and fortunately for another examinee, the weakened machine had already been completely disabled by another person while she had been occupied. The machines appeared to have been beaten to a pulp, though the impacts that caused it seemed considerably larger than an average human hand could form. Though any number of Quirks could cause something like that, and Kaori had more important things to focus on. This currently left her at a 1 point score, though there was still plenty of time to make up for that as long as she could find more enemies to fight. With that thought in mind she set off once again with a frown set on her face and fire blazing in her eyes amidst the purple hue.

* * *

Around seven minutes later, Kaori was now sitting on roughly 20 points, a score that she had been proud of initially but now filled her worry as she heard the point totals being called out by other applicants. The 3-point robots had been beyond her current level of fighting due to their bulk and armaments, and so she had been forced to rely on the appearance of 1 and 2 point machines, despite other teens also finding such opponents to be considerably easier.

Her hands were also beginning to grow tired and sore due to the constant use of punches and grappling maneuvers she had performed to defeat her targets and gain the score she now had. The constructs she had made may have been able to do more than her own hands were capable of, but they were still linked in a way that it drained her stamina as she felt the impacts of any punches or hits the machines delivered, though the pain was considerably lowered due to the size of the hands as well. Had she been aware of what the test had entailed, she may have been able to come up with some way to utilize her feet as well, but the pair of running shoes she had completely prevented her from using her Quirk in a similar way with her feet as she had with her hands. She had even tried using her elbows and knees as her Muay Thai training had taught her about the 8 points of the body, but they did not prove to be as effective at dealing satisfactory blows as the direct use of her hands had been.

Time had proven to be her greatest opponent, both during the test and overall, as her body and Quirk would have likely been tougher and more refined for this day had she not stopped training after her father had died. But that thought wouldn't help anything as she took off once again in search of enemies to face. She didn't get far before one came along…though it wasn't quite what she had hoped to come across at that moment in time.

For there, sitting imposingly as its monstrous size blotted out the sun, was the 0-point robot, it's gargantuan body freezing all of the applicants bodies in place as they laid eyes upon the gimmick. This was the thing they were supposed to avoid?!

Why would they even throw something like this at kids in the first place?!

* * *

 **And just like that we dive headfirst into the Entrance Exam. For obvious reasons, I am avoiding using any of the known groupings that we saw in the Entrance Exam, so don't necessarily expect any of the faces that we saw during scenes shown at that point in the anime/manga. It's considerably easier to write scenes when there aren't established events that you have to compete with. Clearly that won't work forever in this story, but the more I can lessen it the more I can do what I want with any interactions. After all, I never said that someone else we know wouldn't show up. Guess you'll all just have to wait and see what happens next, huh?**


	5. Chapter 5

She could feel a thin bead of sweat trail down her back as she took in the sight of the colossal machine rumbling forwards, pieces of buildings being shaved off by its bulk before landing with loud crashes onto the streets below. The machine swung one of its arms with a slow windup as it carved a large chunk of a larger building out of its way, chunks of debris sent flying in the wake of its destructive path. Kaori watched with a shocked expression as debris started falling amongst the applicants, many of them barely avoiding being crushed by the larger pieces as they all tried to scramble for safety. Her eyes widened as she noticed a larger chunk than that of most of the other debris, flying higher and further than many of the others. As she watched its arc trace through the sky, she turned to face where she estimated its landing point to be.

In the distance, two of the applicants were focused on lifting debris off of those that didn't have the power to do so. So much so, that they weren't even aware that the large block of concrete was heading in their direction. One of them she recognized as the girl with the vine-like hair that she had pseudo-worked with earlier on in the test when things had first kicked off. The other she didn't recognize, but she could tell that her hands were full – quite literally – as her larger than average hands were struggling to hold up a large piece of debris while the vine girl was using her own power to reach in and extract a group of teens with her hair. They were working together well, but if they didn't see the large slab soon then they wouldn't have time to react.

With her mind made up, Kaori started sprinting full tilt in the direction of the distracted girls. She could have chosen to yell out to them, but that would risk possibly startling the girl with large hands and making her drop the rubble on accident. It may not necessarily be harmful for the girl with vine-hair, but for the kids still underneath there was no telling what kind of damage it could cause.

She was also forced to choose her footing carefully as the tremors rumbling through the ground from the 0-pointer nearly caused her to stumble and fall if she didn't have stable balance at all times. Any loose rubble could shift unpredictably and result in her either losing precious time or rolling her own ankle and potentially becoming a vulnerable target much like the trapped applicants. Her breath came out in raspy takes as she felt her stamina peaking at its threshold, the toll of constantly using her Quirk in a more offensive setting finally starting to settle in as she started to reach the group of kids she was focused on. A quick glance up and behind her told her that she still had a bit of time to get situated to try and figure out how best to deal with the slab now starting to slowing down as it reached the apex of its flight. How the machine had managed to knock it so high was downright ridiculous, but that wouldn't matter as soon as it started to pick up speed and fall towards the group.

She quickly spun her body around and felt her feet slide to a stop just a little ways ahead of where the two girls were still focusing on the trapped teens. Her eyes quickly brushed over the area, looking for something she could use as a way to redirect or slow the fall of the concrete without risk to anyone, including herself. All around she could see husks of broken machines, damaged buildings and even a few upturned vehicles and everyday objects (why even bother with those when there were no civilians here to even use them?) but nothing stood out as a means to be able to catch the large block safely. As she finished one last scan of the area, she felt her heart drop as she noticed other objects amongst the city street that she somehow had missed previously during all of the commotion.

A small group of robot villains, all charging in their very direction as they noticed the large crowd of distracted and vulnerable students. And there was nothing to stop them given that any other potential Hero that had been nearby had already run to safety elsewhere along the city street.

Now, with the knowledge of two imminent threats risking the safety of the people behind her, Kaori was momentarily stuck. She could try to stop the debris, but then all of them would be at risk of the machines. And if she focused on the machines then they would all likely be crushed by the massive boulder coming from above.

"Hey! Get out of there!" A random voice called out from somewhere off to her side, snapping her focus as she was temporarily distracted from her current predicament. Her head turned to see a boy with spiky red hair waving at her to move which surprised her since she had believed everyone to have already left the area. Had he not been part of the group that had run off or did he choose to look out for stragglers unlike the others? It didn't matter as Kaori looked behind her towards the girls that were helping out the last of the trapped kids. They had all turned when they had heard the boy yell out to see where the voice had come from and had now taken notice of the falling debris and the approaching machines, but it was too late to react as everything seemed to start moving in slow motion. They're faces were froze in varying degrees of shock, fear, and resignation as some fell to their knees in defeat while more huddled close to themselves or each other for what seemed to be the end. The two girls, however, turned to ignore the rocks and machines as they refused to stop helping the other applicants, while the red-haired boy looked in their direction with a desperate look in his eyes.

Kaori closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, the nerves all over her body going haywire as she felt herself standing on the edge of a breakdown. For the duration of the test, she had been forced to stamp down her fear of combat as the state of the area had threatened to remind her of the night her father had died the more damage was done to the surrounding buildings due to either Quirks or the robot villains. Reminding herself that it was all a planned test and that the enemies weren't real people had helped keep herself in check, but now that things felt more desperate and life-threatening she could feel herself start slipping back into her old tendencies of simply freezing and panicking out of fear.

Her mentor and family friend, Maki, had also commented on this after he had accepted her for training on that fateful day ten months ago, and suddenly she was reminded of something else they had spoken of on that same day.

* * *

"Now, I said that I'd agree to train you, but there's one other obstacle that we'll need to find a way past to really be able to accomplish anything." The wizened man had stated, to which Kaori and her mother had both cocked their heads out of confusion.

"Something else?" Her mother had asked with concern lacing her voice as she crossed her arms over her chest whilst quirking one eyebrow inquisitively. "I thought the problem was Kaori's old fear of coming back here."

"That was just one issue that needed to be tested. But this is something potentially worse if she even wants to stand a chance at finishing anything at U.A. if she's able to get in or even pass the Entrance Exam." Maki had replied back without even missing a beat. "It's the matter of the other thing I discovered when I was checking her muscle memory. While there are still lingering traces of the martial arts she learned as a child, there's also an instinctive memory of her muscles freezing up rather regularly. If that comes up during an attack or when she's in the field for any reason, she'll be just another liability for other heroes in the field, or worse if there aren't other heroes nearby. I need to know what's causing them so we can try to find a way around it."

Kaori remembered explaining that they were the result of either being witness to or hearing about the more destructive or violent villain attacks that would occur at times. The strongest one to day had in fact been the one that had occurred to the day that the sludge villain had been holding a boy hostage just the day before, hence why the muscle memory was still so fresh for Maki to notice. It might not have been as noticeable or as much of a worry otherwise, but it still spoke of her initial inability to act in crisis situations.

They had worked endlessly trying to find a way to mitigate the panic state she would go into when in a dangerous encounter by having her spar with other children and young adults that were training at the facility, but as things progressed in her physical training, the mental brakes refused to let up whenever she was up against a human opponent. Being face to face with someone that meant to harm her in some way always caused her to stall and become sluggish in her movements due to the haze that would overcome her mind.

They had nearly given up as well were it not for the determined look that would come over her every time things would be put on hold. She would go back to her physical training with a renewed vigor as an angry expression etched its way across her face more and more. Until the one day they finally had a breakthrough.

She had been training as usual in her personal space when Maki had brought by a new student with a rather unique Quirk. One that had the ability to create living entities out of trees and foliage by simply making physical contact and focusing for a moment. Using this power, they had made lifelike training dummies for Kaori to practice on in the efforts of getting her combat abilities and martial arts in better shape. Over time, they had made progress to where Kaori could confidently use her Quirk and training against these foes with ease given the age different between her and the younger applicant with the unique Quirk. So much so, that she had been able to go through short skirmishes with actual people without freezing up entirely. Though it hadn't been perfect as she would still start to freeze up after some of the longer bouts she would attempt to go through. But it had been enough.

* * *

This time was different however. In those situations she had been up against maybe one or two actual people in a training dojo where they were taught to only go so far as to either bruise or stun their opponent. These were nearly a dozen robots that were programmed to not hold back and a massive inanimate rock that didn't care what it landed on. She didn't have the luxury of a person that could mould matter, or a teacher that would say when it was time to stop. Even if the test ended right then and the robots stopped, there was still the matter of the rock, and this wasn't something she had ever trained for despite the time they had. The thought had never crossed her mind to ask about attacks from above given the focus on hand-to-hand combat they had gone for.

But it did remind her of one thing.

Even though she preferred to keep her fights on the ground due to her martial arts, her Quirk did have an extended range that she had used before to reach for objects that were normally out of reach, such as her favorite treat of mochi anytime her mother wasn't looking. But she would have to be careful about how she timed it given that she had only used it on stationary objects before. It had never been something they had been able to train appropriately given that making objects fall from the sky was impossible without something like telekinesis or some sort of gravity-based Quirk. Dealing with something moving at high speeds meant that if she recreated her projection too far forward it would end up behind the concrete, and too far ahead meant that there might not be enough distance to stop it without still impacting the ground. And her range was only so far to begin with.

But she didn't have a choice anymore. Not with the stakes this high.

She felt the muscles in her legs tense as she planted her feet firmly underneath her as her eyes and hands lit up in their trademark purple glow. The air ahead and above her began to ripple as sweat began to form in rapid amounts on her forehead and run down the sides of her face. The debris and robots were approaching fast, but that thought didn't cross her mind as she focused everything on the projections that her Quirk made. She had never attempted anything to this scale, and she could feel the strain it was causing by the pulsing in her head and the aching in her hands. But she pressed on, refusing to stop as she continued to focus on the air ahead of her. A small trail of blood trickled out of her nose as a fuzzy feeling briefly passed through her brain, but even that wasn't going to deter her as the rippling air began to glow purple as well, two massive hands forming in parallel to the way held out her own hands as they reached up towards the block of concrete.

Without a moment to spare, the slab collided with her projections with a solid bang, the large hands being pushed back somewhat as Kaori felt the additional strain pass through her own arms as though she had just caught a rapidly moving ball with both hands. The vibrations left a stinging sensation that ran through her, but she couldn't afford to stop now. There was still the matter of the oncoming machines that were nearly on top of the group of she was trying to protect. With a loud yell – whether it was of pain, frustration, or some other emotion, Kaori couldn't tell at that moment – she swung both arms down as the large glowing hands mirrored her movements and buried the group of machines under the large block of debris, causing a sizeable cloud of dust to billow up from the largescale action. As soon as she felt the resistance in her own hands saying that the debris had made contact with the ground, she released her Quirk and felt herself stumble briefly. She would have fallen as well were it not for the sudden appearance of the boy that had yelled at her earlier catching her at the last second. A moment later, a loud buzzer sounded to signify the end of the exam as Present Mic's voice carried over the area. Her hands hurt like hell and she could tell that she was going to have one hell of a migraine later, but everyone was safe.

She had done it. She had pushed past one of the barricades she had set for herself mentally so long ago. Maybe she really could do this hero thing after all.

* * *

"That was amazing! I'd say it was manly, but I'm not sure how that would work since you're a girl and all."

Her own inner thoughts were quickly derailed by a rather upbeat voice beside her, which she realized must have been the boy that had caught her. She turned her head slowly to face the boy with what she hoped was a thankful expression. The sudden shift of his face to a more concerned look told her she must have failed in some capacity.

"Woah! Hey, you alright? That was cool what you did and all, but you didn't get hurt, did you?" His expression of genuine concern was refreshing after everything she had encountered today, from Present Mic's obnoxiously loud voice and the more preppy boy being so loud during the explanation of the test to the overall ordeal she had just been through both mentally and physically.

"I'm-" Her voice came out rough and dry for a moment to which she cleared her throat for a moment. "I'm fine. Just a little sore after overexerting my Quirk a little. I haven't had to make it that big before on such short notice. I might have had an easier time if the robots and crap had been further away, but you can't really choose what you're up against in this sort of thing, huh?"

The boy's face calmed as it took on a more neutral look before glancing over behind her. His expression morphed into something more upbeat again as he helped her to stand again after a moment of her stumbling briefly as she reached into her back pocket for a tissue. She knew what her limits were, and as such had brought tissues in the event of a nosebleed like had just happened due to experiencing her Quirk being overused during her training. Something that she and Maki had both received an earful from her mother about immediately after. The thought brought a smile to her face as her vision started to clear as well.

The red-haired boy took notice of this as he moved somewhat to see if Kaori could stand on her own, to which she gave him an appreciative look. "Feeling alright, then? That's good, because I think there's some people that want to thank you." Kaori's expression changed to that of confusion as the boy pointed behind her.

Kaori turned to look in the direction that the boy was now looking, her eyes coming to rest on the group of student-applicants that all seemed to give her stunned and concerned looks. They were all silent as they gave nods of thanks and the like to her with appreciative smiles after realizing she was okay, before the vine-haired girl stepped forward and grabbed onto both of her hands tightly.

"Thank you very much for helping us save the others that were trapped. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there to stop the robots of the falling buildings. My name is Ibara Shiozaki, and I will never forget what you've done today."

Kaori was left speechless as she flapped her mouth a few times trying to figure out a way to respond. The heartfelt way this girl had thanked her left her off-guard and mentally unbalanced as she stood rooted to the spot.

"I should probably say thanks for that as well, though I don't think I can top what she said exactly." The other girl with the large hands commented as she gestured briefly towards Shiozaki. She reached out a hand, now normal sized, to which Kaori reached out in kind as the two shook hands. "The names Itsuka Kendo. I've gotta say, what you're Quirk can do is impressive. All I can do is just make my hands larger, but you can do that on a whole different level. Must be useful."

Kaori sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "It's come in handy a few times, pun not intended. I can technically do it with my arms, feet and legs as well, but it doesn't work so well when the light my body emits gets blocked by clothing. Can't really go around barefoot all the time though, so I can't really do it very often."

"It's still a better Quirk than a lot of us here based on what just happened." The red-haired boy interjected form his position off to the side. "All I can do is harden my body to something like rock, which I could use to punch holes in the bots easily, but it wouldn't have meant a thing with that giant chunk you caught like a pro-sports player. The name's Eijirou Kirishima since we seem to be passing around names at the moment. What's yours?"

Kaori looked back and forth between the three other teens she was conversing with before realizing with a start that she hadn't in fact introduced herself yet. "Crap, my bad. My brain must still be a bit jumbled after grabbing that rock. My name is Kaori. Kaori Nomi. But please, while it might seem a bit early or informal, just call me Kaori. I hate all of the formalities around using my last name when I'm talking to people, especially since it always causes confusion whenever my mom and I are out somewhere. I prefer things to be more casual anyways."

"Well, Kaori, Kirishima, Shiozaki," Kendo commented as the four of them stood around each other. "I hope that we all get to see each other in the Hero Course at U.A. once we get our test results. It'd be nice to at least know one person in our classes considering how many other strangers there will likely be."

"I hear that." Kirishima replied with a hearty smile. "Having someone there that you've at least met before is way better than trying to go it alone."

"Then may we all see each other at U.A. in the future." Shiozaki stated plainly from her end.

"Yeah." Kaori replied with a bright smile on her face after all of the thanks and praise she had received. "I'd like that."

* * *

 **Now this chapter I had a lot of fun with. This was where I really got to show some of Kaori's current upper power limits, which is by far one of my favorite things to watch in shonen and other genres of anime. Getting a feel for how far a character can go is always interesting because it sets up a point to surpass in the pursuit of becoming stronger. But that's enough of that for now.**

 **I'm sure by now, there are those getting curious about what class she'll be in, who some of the main supporting characters will be, etc. And I know there are those that think she's getting over her fear too soon. And I can understand that. The way I see it, when you're stuck in a dire situation, a lot of your thoughts just vanish from your mind until you're left focusing on just one or two things in the moment. Even a person's fears can disappear if they think that there is something more important to focus on. In this case, Kaori was more focused on helping someone out that wasn't able to do so on their own, than that of her own worries about being caught in a dangerous situation. And of course it wouldn't just stop altogether, as pointed out by key details like limbs shaking and nerves acting up. But speaking from a standpoint where my own occasional tunnel vision has resulted in me doing something and not realizing the other things going on until after, panic can be just as powerful a motivator as it is a deterrent.**

 **Either way, I hope you've all been enjoying yourselves so far, and I'll see you all again in a couple weeks for the results of the Entrance Exam.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Due to my lack of knowledge in regards to the Japanese school system, and my own inattentiveness, I needed to make a very small revision to this chapter to account for a timeskip that isn't apparently obvious in the anime/manga that only those aware of the Japanese system or are more attentive would notice. So, sorry in advance if anyone that has already read this chapter gets a notification saying there was an previously existing Author's Notes will still follow the chapter as per usual.**

* * *

The week following the exam was a harrowing one for Kaori, at least mentally. The anxiety over her test results was slowly getting to her as the days passed; something that did not go unnoticed by both Kaori's friends and family. But they all knew better than to try and distract her from it due to her tendency for obsession over particular things. And so the days passed, with Kaori slowly getting closer and closer to ripping out her own hair due to the building stress she piled on herself.

And then, the day finally arrived that the results came in, her mother walking back in from collecting the mail one morning as Kaori's head swiveled at the slightest sound, her senses on high alert as they had become each morning for the last week. The moment her mother casually handed her the envelope from U.A. with a knowing smirk, her body flew up from the couch as she tore open the package and a small metal disk popped out with a clatter on to the kitchen table. Her mother, now also intrigued as to the sudden small object, leaned in alongside her as they tried to figure out what it was for. A face suddenly appeared through a projection from the device not a moment later, causing both of them to stumble back with accompanying shrieks of surprise.

"I AM HERE!"

The visage of All Might stared through the screen as the two ladies composed themselves following their brief instance of grasping tightly to each other out of sudden fright.

"Hello, young Miss Nomi! I'm sure you've been anxiously waiting for this letter to arrive, so I'll get right down to things! As you are aware, the Entrance Exam was comprised of both a written and a practical test to determine who amongst you will be accepted into the Hero Course at U.A.! Due to your satisfactory results in the written test, the true results will rely on how you did in the practical portion of the exam! So let's see how you did!"

A screen slid into view next to the large man, shortly after turning on to show the silhouettes of the different robots that had been used in the test. Unsurprisingly, only the three worth points were displayed as the fourth wasn't worth any points and such did not matter for how many points she had accumulated.

"For the majority of the test, you're results were slightly above average. By the time the 'gimmick' arrived, you had built up 20 points amongst the different machines you had been able to disable."

Kaori's mother turned to face her with a look of confusion etched on her face. "The 'gimmick'? What is he talking about, Kaori? Now that I think about it, you never did really tell me about what you had to face in the Exam."

"Shush, mom. I can explain after." Kaori stated abruptly as she put a finger to her lips.

"However! Once the 'gimmick' arrived, everything took a sudden and dramatic turn, as you likely noticed being in the middle of things! I don't believe you actually realized it, but when you crushed all of those robots at once, you had built up another 13 points in one fell swoop! Therefore, in the end you accumulated 33 points while destroying the robots that had been sent against you!"

" _But was it enough?_ " Kaori silently worried to herself, her nails digging into her hands as she held them clasped tightly in front of her, almost looking like she was praying at this point.

"But that's not the end! What we didn't tell you at the beginning of the test was that there was a second criterion we were looking for from the beginning while the test went on! As you all used your Quirks to combat the enemy, the faculty watched from a viewing center to see how you all performed alongside your fellow applicants! Those that went out of their way to defend others received extra points to add to their total score. And what you did at the end was more than exemplary for someone your age, even if a bit reckless! Let's play it back, shall we?"

The screen then flickered as it cut to a camera angle that seemed to be centered on Kaori and the other group of students. It then cut to the group of robots gliding towards them and then to the large chunk of debris falling from the sky before swiveling back to the small group of teens. A moment later, the air seemed to fizzle before two large purple hands appeared in the air, outstretched towards the falling rubble. Anyone with good eyes would also have been able to clearly see the accompanying purple glow emanating from Kaori's arms. In the following moments, Kaori saw what she had done in blocking the rubble and destroying the robots from an outsider's point of view, and it shocked her. Looking at it from a different angle, she hadn't realized just how dangerous the situation had been. Any small mistake or misstep could have easily cost her life as well as those behind her. And yet she hadn't budged, and had instead absolutely demolished both threats as they had neared. Her vision began to go misty as that realization began to settle in, though her focus remained on the video screen as she refused to let herself get distracted.

"And so, due to those actions, as well as one or two smaller instances earlier in the exam, you also received 35 rescue points to add to that of your villain points! As such, you finished the exam with a total of 68 points in the practical test! The fourth highest score amongst all of your peers that had taken the test as well! Congratulations on making it into U.A.! You've earned it!"

With that the machine clicked off, leaving their apartment in silence as the two continued to look ahead at the device. That is, until Kaori's mother began to speak.

"Kaori, what were you thinking?! Why would you put yourself in danger like that when it hasn't even been a year since you started training again?! Do you have any idea how risky that was?! I should ground you for doing something so reckless, young lady, I-" Her voice cut off abruptly as she finally turned to face her daughter, now noticing the trails of tears falling down her cheeks in steady streams. "Sweetheart, are you okay?" Her voice immediately shifted to a gentler tone as motherly concern overrode her previous frustration.

"…Yeah." Kaori croaked out as she turned to her mother with a tear-streaked face and a crooked smile. "I'm e-ecstatic. C-can't you t-t-tell?"

"Really, now? Because from where I stand it looks like you're crying."

"Am I?" Kaori wondered aloud with a brief hiccup as she brought up a hand to rub at her eyes. The dampness that followed surprised her. "Oh. I g-guess I am."

"Come here." Her mother reached out for her, to which she responded by grasping tightly to her as though her life depended on it.

"…It was terrifying, mom. It started to feel like the day dad died, all over again. I can still remember seeing the panicked faces on the other kids while the two other girls that were there tried to free them from some fallen debris. If I hadn't stepped in…I don't think they would have made it."

"…I'm proud of you, Kaori." Her mother said after a few seconds of silence.

Kaori's head swiveled up to meet her mother's face. "What do you mean?"

"You've really come a long way since you first came to me roughly ten months ago saying that you wanted to be a Hero again. The fact that you were able to put your fear aside and step in shows how far you've come."

"But I was still afraid, mom!" Kaori shook her head with refusal. "I could have just as easily messed up and cost all of us our lives by doing something stupid! The only thing that kept me from freezing entirely was that it wasn't even real villains we were fighting. If there had been actual people threatening us I don't think I could have done anything!"

"But you did. And I have a feeling it was because you wanted to protect those kids more that you were able to truly fight that fear. You're stronger than you think, you are your father's daughter after all. Who do you think instilled this passion in the first place?"

Kaori looked over towards the now deactivated projector, the proof that she had accomplished one of the first major steps in her dream still sitting atop their kitchen table in pristine condition. Now that the tears had stopped falling, she was able to focus more as she looked around, the world suddenly much brighter than it had been mere moments before.

"…Thanks, mom. You always know what to say."

"I'm your mother, dear. Of course I do."

* * *

As the morning of Kaori's first day at U.A. arrived, the morning was full of constant movement and last minute dodges as the two moved around each other in a frenzy, both rushing to make sure everything was ready for the big day.

"Did you forget anything, Kaori?" Her mother called out as Kaori slipped on her shoes that were a part of the student uniform for U.A. The older woman walked around the corner from their kitchen a moment later, a small paper bag in hand and a smile on her face as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead.

The younger girl looked herself over as well as to her book bag with a curious expression, trying to figure out if she had in fact forgotten anything. Not noticing anything out of place, she turned to face her mother with a confident look as she shook her head.

"Nope. All good."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, mom. I'm fine. It's not like you have to baby me anymore, I'm 15." Kaori rolled her eyes with a huff as she turned to face the door, her hand reaching out for the handle. She was stopped however, by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her.

"You know, for someone whose Quirk works on line of sight like my own, you really aren't very observant sometimes." The sound of crinkling paper came from behind her.

"Mom, what are you talking about no-" Her words were immediately cut off as a round and puffy object suddenly appeared in her mouth, her eyes widening in surprise at the sudden obstruction. A cautious test of her jaw to see what it was caused her face to light up as the familiar taste filled her mouth. After chewing a bit, she swallowed the sudden snack before actually noticing the bag in her mother's hands that she had previously overlooked. "Are those for me?"

A nod of her mother's head was all the confirmation she needed as she snatched the bag from her mother's hand. Her other hand started reaching for the lip of the bag, only for her to be stopped by a tutting sound that came from her mother.

"Those are celebratory mochi for you to take with you for your first day. Maybe you should save a few for eating at school rather than inhaling them before you even leave the house."

A sheepish smile formed on Kaori's face as she reached over to place the bag of mochi in her book bag. She then reached out to give her mother a firm hug before pulling back and half-turning to reach for the door handle once more. "Thanks, mom. I'll see you after school when you get off work, okay?"

Her mother nodded with a smile. "And then you'll tell me all about how your first day went, got it?"

Kaori raised one eyebrow with a smirk as she regarded her mother's last statement. "It's the first day, mom. What could happen?"

* * *

Kaori slowly walked down the halls of U.A. as she attempted to find the classroom that had been assigned to her in the letter from the academy. After wandering out looking a little lost for a short time, she eventually found the door to the place she would likely be spending the next year as she started on her path to being a Hero. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes to prepare herself mentally before she reached out for the door and opened it with confidence before walking into the room. As she looked around, she noticed that a few pairs of eyes had turned for a moment to see who had arrived before returning to what they had been doing previously. Kaori then looked around for any empty seats that hadn't yet been taken by any of the other students before finally resting on a pair of seats next to the windows that appeared unoccupied at present.

As she approached the seat in question, she continued to look over the other students in the room before her eyes stopped on a boy with blonde hair a couple seats ahead of where she had been walking towards. She hadn't recognized him at first, but now looking at him a second time, she realized it was the same boy from the alleyway the day that the sludge villain had attacked over ten months ago. He was in the same class as her and trying to be a hero? What were the odds of that? The blonde noticed her staring a moment later, followed quickly by what almost sounded like a growl of displeasure as he continued to sit with his legs slung over his desk.

"What do you want?"

The gruffness of his tone surprised her as she stopped walking. Either it was her imagination, or this boy was incredibly prickly. Depending on what other things that translated to, she could very well be looking at the person she would dislike the most out of this class so far. It would be best to play it careful for the time being, just for safety's sake.

"Nothing, I just thought your face was kind of familiar, you know? Life's weird like that."

The boy gave her the stink eye for a few seconds before scoffing and turning away with a look of disinterest while Kaori silently shuddered inside. Great, her first day and already she found someone unpleasant. Though that did help since it made it even easier to pick a seat next to the window. It sure as hell wasn't going to be the one directly behind the slouching grump she had just met. One extra seat between her and that boy would be nice. She couldn't help but feel bad for whoever ended up sitting right behind him though.

As she walked past the boy and set her bag down next to the desk she choose to sit at, she gave a nod of acknowledgement towards a girl with a large black ponytail who was sitting at the desk just behind the one she had chosen. She would have tried getting the attention of the boy sitting to the side with a head shaped like a bird, but given the way his eyes were closed she couldn't tell if he was just thinking or was asleep. And the boy with two-toned hair seemed to be giving off a vibe that he didn't want to be spoken to, but at least it wasn't as severe.

"Wait a second, I know that face!"

An oddly familiar voice cut through her inner thoughts as Kaori turned to face whoever was speaking, their voice practically a beacon as it drew her head towards them. A shock of red spiky hair was the first thing she noticed, followed by a confident grin she hadn't seen since the day of the Entrance Exam.

"Wait, Kirishima?"

"Damn right!" The redhead responded with a wild smile. "I thought at first I wasn't going to recognize any faces in this class when I walked in this morning, but at least one person I knew already got into the same class!"

"I guess Shiozaki and Kendo ended up in the other class, huh?" Kaori said, with a bit of disappointment in her voice. She had really been hoping to be in the same class as all three of them, to be honest.

"Hey now, don't make me feel like chopped liver here!" Kirishima replied with a faux hurt look, something that really didn't seem to fit on his rather lively face.

"Who's she? Your girlfriend?" A girl with…a lot pink asked with a curious face. Seriously, what was up with the sheer amount of pink going on between her hair and her skin. Normally something like that wouldn't surprise her in a world of Quirks, but that much pink was really hard to ignore. Her focus then returned to the question that had been asked, which resulted in a spluttering Kaori as a strong blush formed on her face from the blunt question, while Kirishima reeled back briefly before trying to save face.

"Wait, no, you've got the wrong idea there, Ashido." The boy responded with rapid shakes of his head and crossed arms in the form of an X. "I met her along with a few others during the Entrance Exam and we had all chatted a bit after the test. We all hoped we'd be in the same class for the sake of familiarity, but at least this way we each have one person we recognize."

"Aww, I was really hoping she was so that we could tease you too about it. That blush was waaay too convincing that you were, after all."

Kaori grumbled under breath as she tried to get her face back under control. "…stupid easily embarrassed…"

"Hey now, it's all in fun! It broke the ice, didn't it?" The pink haired girl caught Kaori's attention as she stepped forward. "The names Mina Ashido. My friends call me Mina."

"Kaori Nomi." She would have continued on to how she preferred her first name, however Ashido immediately started speaking again once she spoke her name.

"Kaori, huh? That's a nice name. Well, Kaori, I guess that means you've got two friends in this class, huh?"

Kaori smiled as she nodded, suddenly a lot happier about the start to her day as Ashi…Mina immediately started to refer to her with the kind of familiarity that someone you knew for years would use. Suddenly, the blonde grump was a far thought from her mind as she looked forward to the rest of the day.

"What do you think you're doing, resting your legs on your desk like that! This is a place of great reputation, therefore your actions should translate that in the way you treat this school!" A new voice suddenly filled the air shortly after the door to the classroom slid open followed by the rapid march of footsteps.

"I do what I want, four-eyes! Nobody gets to tell me how to act when I'm going to be the best out of all of you losers!"

…Maybe not.

* * *

 **Alright, so this chapter was a lot of fun to write. Partly because getting to do a different version of All Might's acceptance letter with someone he doesn't know personally was something I was always curious about since we know he was the one to do them. Also because I'm starting to feel a really strong groove writing in first person for once. Usually I've tried going for third person limited so that I can show some of the thoughts of other characters while still having a main focus, but in this story I feel that it's going to generally be better to rely on Kaori's own personal take on things to define certain characters for the time being. This of course doesn't mean I dislike characters like Bakugou, just that it's fairly easy to tell that certain characters won't be ones that Kaori gets along with at first.**

 **And since there's one other thing I haven't established at this point- let's get to her Quirk!**

 **Quirk: Projection (Emitter)**

 **Kaori can recreate her own limbs as light constructs maintained by keeping a direct line of sight. Blinking doesn't cancel her power, however losing sight for a brief time causes the limbs to fade into nonexistence unless she reestablishes sight of them. Since they also act as an extension of her own being, any injuries or damage the limbs suffer is translated back to her on a proportional level of the limbs size. They're useful in a lot of scenarios due to the extended range they offer, but she can't be too reliant on them to be able to handle every scenario without suffering some sort of consequence!**

 **(Good luck not hearing that in Present Mic's voice, just saying.)**

 **Anyways, I will see you all again in a couple weeks for the next chapter...where I might also have a little extra surprise in store for all of you, courtesy of a very talented individual.**


	7. Chapter 7

Kaori shuddered internally as the two boys yelled back and forth at each other while everyone else watched in an eerie silence, all previous conversations forgotten as their voices carried above all others to the point of being obnoxious.

" _Great._ " She thought to herself with a groan. " _The first day, and already we've got the class ego and the uptight one going at it. I hope whoever our homeroom teacher is can handle those two. I definitely wouldn't want to be them right now._ " Kaori looked around as she tried to spot someone that looked like their teacher in confusion, only now realizing that she hadn't seen anyone at the head podium when she'd entered the classroom. " _Speaking of which, where the heck IS our homeroom teacher, anyways? Considering they're supposed to be a Pro Hero, you'd think being here before the students would be an expectation of them if not something they would do anyways._ "

Her thoughts were cut short as the door to the classroom slid open once more, only it wasn't their teacher that happened to be there. Soon, others noticed as well, including the Iida boy from Somei (it was impossible to not hear him state his name and school as he reprimanded the spiky-haired blonde) as he rushed over to the boy that stood in the doorway of their classroom. Kaori did another double take as she once again recognized someone in their class.

Of all the things in the world that could happen, both of the boys that were in the alley that fateful day were also in her Hero class?! She was almost considering convincing her mom to go out and get a lottery ticket if that was the way things were going!

Both boys at the door turned as someone else caught their attention, a girl with long brown bangs from the looks of it, as she and the plain looking boy seemed to recognize each other. Were they classmates before coming to U.A.? Or did they happen to meet during the Entrance Exam? Kaori shrugged internally as either way it didn't matter much given where they had all ended up now. Their lives before U.A. mattered little given what they were all striving for now.

As the bell signaling the start of the day rang, Kaori silently walked back to her seat with a passing wave to Kirishima and Mina as she waited for their teacher…who still hadn't arrived despite the class having started. Her eyes wandered over towards the open door where the other three still presided as she looked for something to keep her mind occupied, boredom quickly beginning to set in as the day already seemed to be starting with a slight hitch. Thankfully, since she was watching the door, she was able to notice when the others seemed to freeze in surprise and turn to look out into the hallway, only for what looked like a giant caterpillar with a man's face waddled into their classroom. Kaori fought the urge to pinch herself as she half-wondered if she was still asleep in bed and was just having another late-night mochi dream (she didn't have an addiction, what are you talking about?). A rather tired looking man stepped out of what was apparently just a large sleeping bag – something Kaori sighed with relief over as her peace of mind was restored – before speaking to the class.

"The fact that you didn't all quiet down immediately is irrational. This is the Hero Course, and time is a precious commodity that we can't afford to waste. My name is Shota Aizawa, and I'll be your homeroom teacher."

While others seemed to act with varying levels of surprise, Kaori wondered why on earth they seemed confused by that. What other adult would be walking into their classroom first thing in the morning to address them aside from the principal? It didn't seem that confusing to her, it just seemed like the man needed to put in an effort to get more sleep apparently.

"Now, get your gym uniforms and meet me outside on the school grounds."

With that, he silently walked out without a passing glance to the students as everyone shuffled out of their seats before reaching into their bags and all making their way towards the changing rooms.

* * *

"That…was just a little weird." Kaori stated plainly as she chatted with the other girls in the changing room while they put on their gym clothes.

"I know, right?" Mina replied with a nod of her head. "The dude looked like he was about to pass out or something, what was up with that?"

"Perhaps he simply works late in the night as a Hero," The girl with the large black ponytail commented from off to the side. "After all, even heroes need their rest, and someone needs to be on duty in the later hours to be able to protect people during all hours of the day. We should be ready for that in case we ever end up in that position ourselves."

"I guess that makes sense." Mina shrugged her shoulders as they all finished changing in relative peace. "I guess we'll just have to wait to figure out who he is, too. Unless someone here happened to recognize which Hero he was?"

A resounding chorus of shaking heads was the only answer as no one had any idea who the man was. Either they weren't as high ranking as someone like All Might, or they just didn't care much for media attention and so they didn't gain much time in the spotlight as a result. Either way, they all had bigger priorities as they shuffled out onto the pitch and into the waiting gaze of their homeroom teacher.

Kaori suddenly had a nervous feeling that this wasn't going to be such a simple day as a chill ran down her spine.

* * *

"We're going to be testing our Quirks?!"

The aloof way Aizawa had stated they had stated what they were doing that morning left the entire class in confusion. They were supposed to be at the Opening Ceremonies and their Guidance Sessions, not out here doing physical exercise on the school grounds.

"There's no time for pointless things like that if you all want to be Heroes." Aizawa stated without a care in the world towards the panicked reactions of some of the students. "U.A. is known for its freestyle system of teaching, and that means us as teachers get to do things as we see fit. Today, we'll be going through a set of 8 physical tests. Softball throwing, the standing long jump, the 50-meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-to-side stepping, upper-body training, and the seated toe touch. You all likely remember having to do them in middle school, but today we're doing it with a catch. The country still insists on banning the use of Quirks irrationally when determining the average records in these tests, all because they choose to procrastinate towards making any sort of change." Aizawa turned towards the blonde spiky-haired boy. "Bakugo, what was the furthest pitch you had in middle school."

"Sixty seven meters." He replied plainly, apparently able to talk without yelling out every syllable.

"Great. Now try throwing it while using your Quirk. I don't care what you do; just don't leave that circle you're standing in. Don't hold anything back."

"Perfect." Bakugo grinned wickedly as he pulled his arm back for a pitch before swinging it forward at a rapid pace. As the ball reached the tips of his fingers, a resounding boom filled the air as an explosion went off in the palm of his hand, launching the ball at a frightening pace through the air. "DIE!"

" _Did he just yell "DIE!" as he threw that?_ " Kaori wondered to herself as she eyed Bakugo cautiously. " _Who the heck even does that?"_

Everyone else watched in awe as the ball continued to fly for a distance before reaching the peak of its height and falling back down to the ground, smoke trailing off of it as a result of the explosion that Bakugo had caused. Everyone turned to face Aizawa as a beeping sound came from a device in his hand.

"It's important for all of you to understand your limits." He turned the device so that everyone could see what it said – 705.2 meters. "That's the first rational step towards determining what kind of heroes you'll all be." A majority of their class began to get excited as they read the device and began to understand what Aizawa was getting at.

"700 meters?! Are you serious?!" One voice stated with alarm.

"We get to use our Quirks for real? This is awesome!" Another, more excited voice cried out.

"…So you think this is awesome, huh?" Aizawa commented with a curious tone as an ominous aura seemed to surround him. "You're all hoping to become heroes after going to U.A. for three years…and you think it's just going to be fun and games?"

" _Where's the other boot?_ " Kaori wondered to herself, having not been one of the students to have gotten immediately excited after having spent 10 grueling months of training under Maki. That man had never started doing something without having some sort of ulterior motive since day one. " _There's no way this is going to be that casual on the first day. Now from a guy like this that goes on about what's rational and irrational._ "

"In that case, let's make things interesting. Whoever ends up with the lowest score amongst the twenty of you at the end of the eight tests will be considered a lost cause and expelled on the spot."

Th majority of the students immediately switched from eager excitement to a mass of dread, while Kaori silently smirked to herself with a slight nod to herself. " _There it is. Now it's just a matter of whether it's a bluff, or he actually intends on getting rid of someone if they don't match up to the expectations. Either way, can't afford to hold back anything now…I hope I remembered to put some spare tissues in one of my pockets before we came out here. I think I might need them if I'm going to stand a chance._ "

"Your fates are in our hands now." Aizawa stated as he lifted his hair and gave a piercing gaze towards the group of teens. "Welcome. This is the Hero Course at U.A. High."

"Expelling the lowest scorer on the first day?! That's totally unfair!"

Kaori looked over in surprise at the person who had spoken up, the girl with the brown bangs standing with her fists clenched near her chest as she finished speaking aloud.

"…Natural disasters, highway pileups, rampaging villains." Kaori's fists clenched unconsciously as Aizawa mentioned villains. "Calamity is always right around the corner. Japan is full of unfair things if you ask me. And it's a Hero's job to correct that unfairness. If you thought you were going to have a relaxing night hanging out at a fast food joint, then you'll have to be disappointed. Because for the next three years…U.A. will run you through the wringer. That's Plus Ultra. Use your power to overcome all of it. So there's no holding back. The demonstration is over, now it's for real."

* * *

With that, the 8 trials began in earnest, all of the students showing off their skills in different ways as they put their Quirks to the test. The first being the 50-meter dash.

Kaori put a hand to her chin in thought as she watched the others use their Quirks in different ways to reach the goal in the fastest time. Obviously Iida would end up with the best score given the Engine Quirk he had, but how could she use her Projections to clear the distance faster if she had to see them? Her eyes lit up with an idea as she watched another classmate, Yuga Aoyama, using his Quirk while facing away from the goal as he fired a laser from his abdomen. No one said she had to be facing the goal, and that would be exactly how she could at least clear a larger distance early on as she looked down at her open palms as she clenched them with determination.

She calmly got into position next to Kirishima as they both readied themselves for the sprint when their time came up. Kirishima tilted his head to the side in confusion as he watched her turn around to face away from the goal much like Aoyama before shrugging and facing towards the goal in a ready stance with his body bent low to the ground. Kaori clenched her hand into fists a few times with a deep breath as she waited for the signal to start running.

The moment she heard it, she hopped off of the ground with her gaze straying towards the ground as her eyes and hands lit up with the telltale sign of her Quirk. A split second later, copies of her hands appeared just below and in front of her feet before she flattened her hands and pushed them forward as though shoving something. As she did so, the projections pushed towards her feet in the same manner that her hands had, pushing against her feet and launching her away from the starting position. She then twisted her body around as she passed Kirishima due to the makeshift springboard she had performed, her feet quickly finding purchase on the ground as she sprinted the rest of the way towards the goal.

"5.89 seconds!" The machine beeped out as Kaori stopped to catch her breath from the rapid sprint as she felt her hands to make sure they weren't already sore. She had only figured out how to use her Quirk as a platform a couple months before the Exam once they had moved on from improving her physical fitness, and the initial results had often resulted in poorly executed throws and a faceful of dirt.

"You never mentioned that you could do stuff like that with your Quirk!" Kirishima commented as the two of them walked away from the goal while Bakugo and the green-haired boy lined up for their sprint. "It makes my Quirk look even lamer by comparison."

"Cut yourself some slack Kirishima." Kaori replied with a soft smile and a pat on the boys back. "Just because you won't be able to use it too much in these tests doesn't make it any less useful for protecting people. You'll get your chance to shine just like everyone else."

"You think so?" He asked with a look of wonder.

"I know so."

* * *

The second test required them to test their grip strength, something Kaori had to think about as she examined the device in her hand for a few moments before creating a projection that was slightly larger than her hands normally were but would still fit within the space for a person's hand. In the end, the device ended up reading around 80kg of force as she relaxed her hand while Aizawa entered some numbers into his handheld device once again.

The third event they were forced to tackle was that of the standing long jump. Something Kaori knew she would be able to perform better at than the previous tests, but only if she was careful. As soon as she took up her position, her eyes and hands lit up once again with her Quirk as she jumped away from the starting position with her head angled towards the ground once more. With careful precision, she began to run across an ever shifting platform of her hands and he continuously created, dismantled, and recreated projections of her hands like a bridge as she put one foot in front of the other.

She would have gotten further as well, had she not misplaced one foot on the edge of one of her hands and slipped towards the ground before falling face first into the dirt. She ended up with a brief twinge of pain in her skull due to rapidly using her Quirk like that, but a quick check of her nose to find nothing amiss and a brief temple massage left her good to go for the next test.

Thankfully, since the next test was the side-steps, she was able to relax her Quirk for once as she relied solely on her physical training and endurance to give her a satisfactory score for that particular trial.

* * *

The fifth test had them return to the circle where Aizawa had them first gather to explain the test. Kaori watched in relative silence as each student stepped up to the mark and took their turns throwing pitches as best as they could using their different abilities. The frog girl, Tsuyu Asui, pitched an impressive toss as she wrapped her tongue around the ball – something that caused Kaori to shudder visibly as she imagined how many hands had likely touched that ball between cleanings – and gave it a mighty fling with the elasticity said limb possessed.

Her jaw dropped as the girl with brown bangs, Ochako Uraraka, stepped up and throw the ball lightly into the air…only it never stopped rising. It kept going up…and up…and up…until Aizawa's device beeped and he turned it to show the symbol for infinity to the class, something that did not go unmentioned by the majority of them. Kaori gave Uraraka's hands a curious glance as she briefly wondered what it would be like to create large projections of her hands only for Uraraka to remove the gravity from them with her own Quirk. Would she still feel the projections? Or would it be like watching as her hands moved with her only to not feel it due to the lighter feeling they would possess?

" _Questions for another day I guess, though it would probably be interesting regardless._ " She figured as she gave a light shrug before turning to watch as the green-haired boy, Izuku Midoriya, stepped up to the plate with an anxious look on his face.

" _Something tells me if anyone is at risk today, it's him. He hasn't used his Quirk at all in the last four tests, but why? Is it not something suited for these sorts of things like Kirishima's?_ "

"Midoriya isn't doing too well." A voice Kaori recognized as Iida's spoke off to her side as she glanced over towards the boy looking ahead with an appraising eye.

"Well duh! He's a Quirkless runt!" Bakugo snapped out, much to Kaori's surprise as her eyes widened in shock, her head turning back to face the boy nervously shaking in the ring.

" _Is that true? Does he really not have any powers?_ " Kaori wondered to herself as her vision remained fixed on the young boy. " _But…that can't be right! How could he have been accepted into U.A. without any powers?! No place would accept someone like that for a Hero course! Wait…if he is Quirkless like Bakugo says, then…oh my god._ " One of Kaori's hands went to her mouth in shock as her memory flashed back to the alleyway over ten months ago. " _If he's actually Quirkless, then that means he ran headfirst into danger to rescue someone without any way to protect himself! And I just stood there, frozen like a deer in headlights!_ " Sweat began to bead on her forehead as she watched the boy with anxious eyes as her hand fell back to her side. " _Please let Bakugo be wrong! I don't know how I'd react if it turns out he has no powers at all! PLEASE!_ "

Midoriya pulled back one arm with a now-determined look on his face before whipping the ball forward…only for it to land a short distance away as a machine called out the 46 meter distance it had gone. His face was empty of life as he gazed helplessly at the ball lying a short distance away. A feeling that Kaori was beginning to share as she barely kept herself from falling to her knees and causing a scene.

"I erased your Quirk."

All eyes turned to face Aizawa as his hair stood on end and the scarf around his neck seemed to have come alive as it billowed around his head. A pair of goggles was now visible, having been hidden previously by the mass of material that had been resting atop it.

"That ridiculous Entrance Exam is completely irrational if it means someone like you got in."

Kaori's mind swam with confused thoughts as she tried to process everything going on. Bakugo had claimed that Midoriya was Quirkless, but now their teacher was claiming that he had 'erased' it? Could someone even do that? Who was this guy that was teaching them?

"He's the Erasure Hero, Eraser Head!"

Kaori's head spun back to Midoriya as his voice broke her out of her myriad of thoughts, her focus now completely on him and Aizawa as the man silently stood with a menacing gaze towards the boy. The two seemed to have a private conversation after a brief silence, including Aizawa gripping the boy with his scarf before setting him back down and calmly walking away to leave the boy in thought.

"It seems like Midoriya received some special instructions from Mr. Aizawa." Iida commented as everyone watched with baited breath.

"Yeah, instructions on how to leave I bet." Bakugo commented without looking away from the green-haired boy.

Everyone watched in silence as Midoriya seemed to grip the ball again with a suddenly renewed vigor before swinging his arm back for a second toss. Everything seemed like the last time he threw, much to Kaori's fear, until th ball was just rolling along the edge of one finger as it blasted off into the sky with a rush of wind. Kaori covered her eyes so that dirt and dust wouldn't get caught in them before lowering them as the gust of wind passed. Her arms lowered as she tried to see what had happened, only to wince as she saw the state of Midoriya's finger as it hung battered and bruised towards the ground as he straightened up his body from the throw.

"Sensei...I…can still move."

"… _I don't think I've ever been happier in my life for someone to be wrong._ "

* * *

The rest of the tests passed by rather plainly as nothing as exciting as what had happened during Midoriya's throw occurred. When Kaori had taken her place during the throw, she had concentrated for nearly a minute before a hand the size of a small van formed in front of her as she grasped the ball with it, much to the surprise of most of her classmates as they had begun to comment on how long it was taking for nothing to happen. This time, since she didn't have to form the projection in a hurry, it did not cause the same migraine and bleeding that had occurred during the rushed execution at the Entrance Exam. With a swing of her arm, the larger hand rocketed the ball off into the air before it fell back to the ground after flying over 850 meters.

Of the last three tests, only the one testing their upper body strength was one where she could use her Quirk in any effective manner as she took up a position on the exercise equipment like anyone would before creating projections that were about twice the size of her hands so that she could still comfortably move her arms up and down to lift the weights without having to bend awkwardly or angle things in an odd way.

And with that, Aizawa's Quirk Apprehension Test came to a close. In the end, Kaori had come in 7th place out of the class results, and no one had been expelled, despite Midoriya coming in dead last in the overall results.

" _Can't really say I'm surprised to be honest._ " Kaori wondered to herself as they all packed up for the day. " _He likely just said it all to make sure people actually tried rather than half-assing it like everyone tends to in middle school. He may be a little off, but it gets results I suppose._ _I'm just glad I'm not the only one that saw through his ruse early on. That Yaoyorozu girl is smart and apparently talented based on how well she did in the tests._ "

"Hey Kaori, you wanna catch the train back with us?" The sound of Kirishima's voice cut her out of her current thoughts as she looked over to see Kirishima and Mina waiting by the door while giving her an expectant look.

"Sorry, got lost in thought there. Just let me finish putting my stuff in my bag."

"No worries, I'll just be out in the hall when you're ready. You coming, Ashido?"

"I'll be right there, just remembered that I need to grab something as well. You go on ahead." The pink-haired girl stated to Kirishima as Kaori turned to finished packing her gym clothes back into her bag.

Kaori sighed to herself silently as she stopped and closed her eyes for a moment with her back turned to Mina. She then turned around, only to stumble back in shock against her own desk as the other girl stood directly in front of her.

"Are you okay?"

Kaori had a hand to her chest as she tried to cam her racing heart as the pink girl silently stood in front of her with a cam expression. "Yeah…I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because I saw you practically freaking out during Mr. Aizawa's test today. What was that about?"

Kaori's eyes widened in shock. "Wait…you saw that? Did…did anybody else notice?"

Mina shook her head before responding. "Not as far as I could tell. It was only for a moment when Midoriya was taking his pitch during the softball toss. You never answered my question, though."

"I'm…" Kaori debated internally whether it was better to lie about it or be honest to someone she had only just met that day. But something about the girl made her want to trust her, and that ended up being the main reason she answered the way she did when she opened her mouth once more.

"No…no I'm not."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"…Maybe at some point but…not today. Sorry, Mina."

The pink-skinned girl turned about face as she put on a wide smile. "That's fine. Besides, we'll likely be seeing a lot of each other for the next three years. At some point you're bound to be ready, and I can wait."

"Thank you." Kaori stated as she gave the girl a small smile. "Now, let's go before Kirishima gets bored waiting for us."

"Oh, he already knew I was staying behind to have some girl talk with you."

"I…wha…how?"

"I told him, duh!"

Kaori shook her head with a continued smile as she walked passed the beaming girl and slid open the classroom door to a waiting Kirishima. She motioned to the side with her head as she started walking down the hall towards the stairs, her two newest friends in tow as they all left from the first eventful day at U.A. High.

If this was how things were going to be going forward, even if some days may be tougher than others...then the next three years were probably going to be some of the best ones in her lifetime.

* * *

 **Surprise extra long chapter!**

 **Seriously, though, I did not realize that just writing for the tests that Aizawa does would end up amounting to a longer chapter. I thought I'd have time to write it out and still have room to spare to tease the Battle training with All Might. But instead you get this guy. Not to say that's a bad thing, it was honestly fun coming up with ways that Kaori could use her Quirk in any sort of fashion during some of these tests. At first I thought I'd only be able to make it work for the jump, throw, and the grip test, but then I came up with the springboard idea as I started writing. I'd say 4 out of 8 is pretty decent, but not necessarily OP considering how multi-purpose a Quirk like that can be.**

 **Anyways, last update I promised you guys a little surprise, and that was mainly because I thought we'd already be at the battle training. But you know what? Screw it. I'm updating it anyways. If anyone doesn't see it right off the bat, I have new cover art for this story, featuring our resident Hero-in-the-making herself! If you want to applaud anyone for the great work, then head on over to ScruffyTurtles on Tumblr and Twitter. Yes it may sound like a plug, but they honestly captured Kaori in what I consider a perfect depiction, and that deserves credit. That and the rest of their art is great as well.**

 **Either way, hope you all enjoyed this one and are looking forward to the next one. Things are just going to keep building from here, so brace yourselves as we dive deeper into the rabbit hole.**


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning was met with relative boredom as they went through their more ordinary courses that were still expected of them to be taken despite all of their desires to focus on the Hero aspect of their course. After drudging their way through their morning classes and a lunch supplied by the school's own Lunch Rush, they finally reached the afternoon for one of their more anticipated classes – Hero Basic Training.

" _I wonder what this course will be like._ " Kaori thought to herself as she patiently waited at her seat like the rest of the class as they watched the door with baited breath. " _With a name like Basic Training, it could be just about anything they could choose to go over. Plus there's a matter of who our teacher will be. Now that I think about it, we've had most of the other Pro's as teachers, but there's still no sign of All Might. Maybe he'll be the one to teach us?_ " Suddenly, the door swung open at a rapid pace as a broad figure filled the passage, immediately cutting of Kaori's thoughts before she could wonder more.

" **I HAVE…COME THROUGH THE DOOR, LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!** " All Might's booming voice assaulted their eardrums, though not in quite the same fashion as Present Mic's voice tended to whenever he got excited.

Murmuring from her classmates began as many of the students hyped themselves up for a course taught by the No. 1 Hero himself. Though it didn't last long as All Might began speaking almost immediately after marching into the room in a grand fashion.

"Welcome students! Today we'll be covering Hero Basic Training, the course that will help mold you all into the heroes you dream of being through special training! But enough of that, let's get started on today's lesson right…now!" As he paused for a moment while speaking, the man pulled out what seemed like a special card from his back pocket with only one word written on it in bold letters.

BATTLE

"Battle Training!"

Suddenly, the tension in the room peaked, especially from the desk two seats ahead from Kaori as she could practically feel the ominous aura emanating off of Bakugou's form.

"But before we can move on with that, you'll all need these gifts, courtesy of the quirk registry and the forms you submitted when you were accepted to this school!"

"Costumes!" Multiple voices in the class loudly shouted at once as a new excitement filled the air.

"Grab what you need and then make your way to the changing rooms to get suited up! Once that's done, come out to Ground Beta in ranking order so that we can begin!"

* * *

Kaori took a moment in silence as she looked down at the bundle of clothing and gear that sat in the package in front of her. Most of the other girls were already in the process of changing, but she felt like she needed to just take a moment once again to let things settle in.

"Hey, Kaori?" Mina's voice peaked up from off to the side, her head turning with surprise as she looked over to said classmate. "You alright? You've just been staring at your costume for a little bit now. You know you'll be closer to the front based on Mr. Aizawa's rankings, right?"

"Oh crap, I forgot about that!" Kaori yelped as she hurriedly began taking off her school uniform and changing into the costume that she had been dreaming of being able to wear since she was a child.

"Woah, slow down girl!" Mina tried to calm down the now rushing Kaori. "There's one thing to be excited about putting on the costume, but you don't want to accidentally tear it!"

"Trust me, if it tears a bit in a couple spots that wouldn't be the end of the world, Mina." Kaori replied calmly as she put her legs through the one piece portion of her costume. "…At least as long as it's not in certain spots."

"Does it have something to do with your Quirk?" Yaoyorozu asked from another part of the change room as she calmly finished putting on her…rather modest leotard. "I couldn't help but notice that you had to be rather technical at times when using it during Mr. Aizawa's tests yesterday."

Kaori paused for a moment with her arms awkwardly reached behind her to try and do up the zipper on the back of her outfit to no avail before sighing in defeat, a problem that was soon solved by Mina as she calmly reached over to fix the problem with a sympathetic look as her costume suffered the same dilemma. A silent nod of thanks to the girl was followed with Kaori turning back to face the tall ponytailed girl as she reached to put on her long boots – something that she could put on without any assistance, thankfully.

"You could say that. But I think that would be better left for the actual fights rather than keeping everyone waiting."

"Someone's already getting into the spirit of the Battle Training, huh?" One of her other classmates, Toru Hagakure joyfully commented from near the door to the changing room. She hadn't had to take nearly as long changing since all her costume was comprised of was a pair of gloves and boots.

"Once you've spent over ten straight months going through martial arts and Quirk training, talk to me and let me know what it's like to always be prepared for a fight." Kaori rebutted with a smirk. " _Even when you don't want to be sometimes._ " Her thoughts were far less pleasant even as she put the finishing touches on her costume by carefully placing the mask over her face. Even if it wasn't a necessity, she liked the mystery and power a mask seemed to have when it was worn.

…She always had a thing for masked heroes, so what?

"Either way," Yaoyorozu commanded the attention of all of them as the girls finished putting on their costumes. "We should probably go out and meet with the boys so that we can get to our lesson with All Might."

* * *

"Wow, Kirishima. I know you said that your Quirk hardened your body to be able to resist attacks, but did it need to leave so little to the imagination?" Mina commented while Kaori tried not to stare too much at the exposed abs on the red-haired boy. "You might end up just making more people need rescuing when they get a load of that."

Kirishima just laughed as he stood there with his fists on his hips, perfectly fitting the image of a Hero already as far as Kaori was concerned…and there were the abs again. Why did he have to display them so much?!

Mina turned her eyes slightly as she smirked at Kaori's reactions to Kirishima's costume. "You alright there, Kaori? You need a Hero or something?"

A playful shove from the suddenly meek girl was met with a laugh from both "horn heads" as they liked to refer to each other as. The three of them continued to banter for a few brief moments before All Might cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Alright! Now that you're all here and truly look the part of the Heroes you wish to become, let's move on to phase two of today's lesson!" The commanding voice boomed out over each of them with ease.

"Excuse me, All Might!" A voice that sounded almost like Iida's came from somewhere within their group. After looking around briefly, Kaori realized that he was the one with a full body suit adorning his body, like that of a knight from older fairy tales. "This appears to be one of the training grounds like what we used during the Entrance Exam! Are we to be fighting using the city streets again?"

"Not today, young man!" All Might replied with continued gusto. "Today's focus will be on indoor anti-personnel battle training! Villain battles can often end up on the streets, however the more nefarious foes often will use confined spaces to do their dirty work! So with that in mind, you'll all be split into teams of Heroes and Villains and face off in two-on-two mock battles!"

"So there's not actually any basic training, then?" Tsuyu Asui asked from one portion of the crowd.

"Practical experience teaches the basics! Today's fights won't just be a simple matter of facing disposable robots!" On that note, multiple voices started speaking at once as numerous questions were flung at All Might at once. "Slow down! I don't have super hearing as a power, remember?!" He cleared his throat for a brief moment before continuing. "Here's the deal! The villain teams have hidden a bomb within the compound that the heroes must find and retrieve! But they'll also both be working against the clock to either capture the villains or secure the weapon while the villains can either capture the Heroes or simply stall for time! But before we can do that, we must first assign your teams…by drawing lots!" At the mention of lots All Might pulled out a small box with a round opening on top.

" _Makes sense,_ " Kaori thought to herself as she silently watched Midoriya explain in a non-direct way to Iida why it made sense. " _Heroes don't often get to choose who's there to help in a situation. You never know who you might get…_ " Kaori's expression fell somewhat as her train of thought continued. " _You might not get any backup at all, after all. And then you have to try and solve the situation on your own despite the risk._ "

Mina and Kirishima both shared a look of concern out of the corner of Kaori's eye as they both must have noticed her change in expression. The thought of keeping her dark past a secret seemed to become more of a fleeting dream as the days went on, it seemed. She sighed to herself before returning her attention as All Might began drawing names out of the box to assign teams. As teams were assigned Kaori ended up being assigned as a partner to Yaoyorozu. Today apparently really wanted her to give details to people as it seemed the question she had asked earlier was going to be answered a lot sooner than she expected.

* * *

After watching a rather harrowing and nerve-wracking battle between Bakugou and Midoriya, followed by practically freezing to death from Todoroki's ice powers, the rest of the battles went with considerably less flair due to the nature of most of the classes Quirk's. Not to say they weren't still exciting battles in their own way, however.

Eventually, it came time for Kaori and Yaoyorozu to fight against their classmates Denki Kaminari and Kyoka Jirou. But before they could battle, they first had to strategize their five minutes around what they knew they could do.

"I guess it's time to explain our Quirks already, huh?" Kaori commented as she crossed her arms while Yaoyorozu began creating steel bars from her body.

"Indeed. Obviously we both know a little bit about each other's at this point in time, but to truly create an effective strategy we must know as much as possible about each other."

"Well, you already figured out part of my Quirk from your comment about me having to focus on them so much yesterday, but there's more to it than that. My Quirk basically lets me create doppelganger body parts that perfectly mirror the movements and actions by body makes. But it has to be within my line of sight, and also can't be obstructed by dark clothing since my body also needs to emit a light that creates the duplicate body part. Hence all the white on my costume since it's one of the easiest colours for light to pass through. The only real drawback is that any damage they sustain I feel on my actual body, so I still need to be careful against certain things."

"That's quite a useful Quirk in all honesty. I'm surprised that you didn't end up as one of the students with recommendation with a power like that and how multi-purpose it can be." Yaoyorozu stated with a thoughtful look.

"I…kind of only started my training close to a year before the exam, so I didn't have as much training with my abilities as I could have before applying. I've sometimes thought about how different it could be if I'd never stopped training in the first place, but you can't exactly go back in time without a Quirk…I wonder if a power like that even exists?"

"That is unfortunate. But as promised I still owe an explanation for my own Quirk. It allows me to create any object imaginable from my own body fat; however I must know the precise chemical and physical makeup of the object to be able to have it work as intended. This book on the back of my costume is a place that I store any information on these objects in case I happen to forget a detail or need to make sure I construct the object properly."

"…Damn. Here you are talking about how multi-purpose my Quirk is and you can literally create anything if you know what it's made of. No wonder you got in on recommendation. Not only is your Quirk powerful, but you'd have to be a genius to remember that much about so many things. I'm kind of jealous to be honest."

Yaoyorozu blushed slightly under the praise of her own abilities before clearing her throat to calm her nerves. "I appreciate the comment, however now we only have a short time before our classmates come looking for the bomb. I can block the door with these steel bars to delay them depending on what kind of Quirk's they have, however I'm not sure what you'll do in th meantime."

"Easy. I act as the first wave of defense, and if they get past me then we've got the metal you put on the door and whatever else you happen to make in here. I'm fairly sure my Quirk won't be as useful in this room with all of the pillars that could block my line of sight, so I'll keep to the hallways where I have a long line of sight if I can keep on them. The only issue will be if they somehow sneak past me or somehow overpower me. We'll just have to wait and see."

"In that case, I wish you luck."

"Same to you." With that, Kaori stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her, the sound of metal slamming into place echoing behind her as Yaoyorozu began enacting her part of the plan. After making sure everything was good to go, Kaori began marching down the hall as she thought about where she would wait to ambush her opponents.

"Now…time to see what kind of Quirks these two have."

* * *

"You're sure that the bigger one is the bomb?" Kaminari asked Jirou with an unsure look on his face.

"What else is it going to be, you idiot?" The punk-looking girl asked as she smacked the blonde boy on the back of the head.

"Well, what if one of them has a growth Quirk? Or can shrink objects and made the bomb really tiny?"

"Even if that were possible, it wouldn't be very useful in a fight unless they can touch us. And between your Quirk and mine them actually being able to touch us is a pretty bad or at least difficult idea."

"If you say so, I just have a bad feeling about the fact that they're split up."

Jirou put a finger to her lips as she plugged her jack into the wall once more to listen for vibrations through the objects surface. "Well it looks like you're going to get your answer soon since one of them is about to come around the corner in a few seconds. Just make sure you don't accidentally fry my ass."

"I'll try, but no promises." Kaminari stated with a smirk.

"If you do I'll blast you into next week, you perv."

"Do you two need a moment or something?" Kaori's voice came from around the corner. "I can stay out of sight until you two can work together like actual heroes, you know."

"Oh haha, very funny. While you're at it, maybe let us past while we 'sort out our differences' and we'll just be on our way." Jirou sassed back while Kaminari awkwardly stood to the side.

"Yeah…not happening, sorry." Kaori replied as she stepped around the corner with a bundle of capture tape in one hand. "But don't worry, I'll have you two tied up quick and then you can go talk things out."

Kaminari suddenly smirked as a crackle of electricity emitted from his hands. "As much as the thought is appealing, you aren't putting your hands on me without regretting it pretty fast."

"I'm sorry…did…did you just…wow and here I thought the playboy attitude was just a myth. You really are a ladies man, at least in your own mind aren't you?"

"I like to think so. Help's with the charm and good looks if I'm confident."

"You wish." Jirou snorted from off to the side as her earjacks raised in a pseudo-menacing fashion. "Anyways, enough stalling, it's time to go get that bomb."

"Let' see you get past me then."

At that statement, the two of them charged towards Kaori at once. Without even a second thought, she tossed the bundle of tape into the air as it furled open, her hands and eyes flashing purple a moment later as mimics of her hands flashed into view and grasped each end of the tape as her hands clenched shut. Due to the need to act quickly and the narrow passage, she simply created equal sized hands to that of her own to save time and effort for actually fighting. As she thrust her hands forward the copies followed suit as they sailed in the direction of her classmates.

As her hands moved closer, Jirou fell back slightly while Kaminari moved to be directly in the path of the oncoming hands and tape as her extended one of his hands forwards. As his hand brushed the surface of one of the projections a sharp shock passed through Kaori's own hand, causing her to flinch and rapidly lose focus, the capture tape falling lightly to the ground as her copies suddenly disappeared due to her loss of attention.

"Shit." Kaori cursed out loud as the fuzzy feeling slowly passed from her right hand. " _I didn't think his electricity would be THAT strong. I was expecting something like static electricity, not a goddamn generator. At least the projection disappeared before it went on for longer, I might have lost the use of my hand for a bit. As it is I'll need to be extra careful about how I stall them so that they don't immediately go for the bomb._ "

"Not so confident now, huh?" Kaminari continued to smirk as electricity crackled between his fingertips. "Like I said, you can't exactly put a hand on me when I've got my Quirk going."

"Oh, great. Now he's getting cocky, too." Jirou rolled her eyes as the two continued to sprint towards Kaori. "Now are you happy?"

"Not exactly." Kaori replied plainly as she clenched and unclenched the stunned hand to test for feeling. It was similar to that feeling you get when your hand starts to fall asleep and doesn't quite want to behave but you can still somewhat feel it when you try to move your fingers. It would have to do for the time being. "Just means I have to reorient my strategy."

"Without touching me?" Kaminari questioned with a now confused look. "How's that supposed to work?"

"By making you simply lose time!" On "time" Kaori thrust her right fist forward as her hand and eyes flashed purple once more. A fist suddenly materialized in midair and rocketed in the direction of the other two, both of which flung themselves to the side to avoid being hit.

"Dude! Not the face!" Kaminari pleaded from the ground as he quickly got to his feet, Jirou not far behind him as they stood cautiously in front of Kaori who stood not ten feet away at this point.

"You asked what my plan was, and there you go. I spent the last number of months constantly punching and getting punched by other people as part of my training. I think I can afford to give out a black eye or two if the need arises."

"Anymore bright ideas, Sparky?" Jirou asked with a condescending tone as the two of them stood in a ready stance. "Or is that moneymaker of yours too important to risk? We've already wasted enough time getting to this point and talking that we've got 9 minutes left. That's over a third of our time gone already and we haven't even reached the bomb!"

"Don't look at me; you said you knew what you were doing when you pointed the way!"

"Because I can't fight in spaces like these due to the risk of collapsing parts of the building from my Quirk if I use it offensively. If a passage collapses and we have to find another path then we're guaranteed to run out of time even if we know the exact room the bomb is in!"

While the two bickered, Kaori took advantage of the situation to reach past the two of them with her Quirk to where the capture tape still lay on the ground. As long as the two of them remained focused on each other, they hopefully wouldn't see her using her Quirk again and realize what she was up to.

"…And now while we're wasting our time she's trying to do something with her Quirk!" Jirou's voice echoed through the passage as the girl pointed a finger at Kaori's glowing eyes and hands.

Shit.

"…Wait, what is it you're even doing with your Quirk, anyways?" Jirou asked with a curious look as they both looked at her. While she did so, Kaminari looked around for something else to do, and in doing so caught sight of what Kaori was actually doing with her Quirk. Upon noticing where his eyes were, Kaori sharply drew her arms back as her projections carried the capture tape towards Jirou's back to try and tie her up quickly.

"Jirou, move!" Kaminari yelled as he shoved the dark-haired girl out of the way with a surprised yelp. A second later, Kaori's hands pulled the capture tape tightly around Kaminari's arms and torso, but not without grasping onto the capture tape with one hand before sending a surge of electricity through the material.

"KYAAAH!" Kaori shrieked as the ensuing current surged into the projections and by extension into her on nerves as her hands felt like they were now on fire. She knew that she would barely have seconds before the pain became too much even though she was ready for it this time. She had to at least tie up Kaminari quickly so that it gave Yaoyorozu one less person to deal with. With a pained look on her face, she contorted her arms so that the tape would fully wrap around Kaminari's body before she roughly tied it together before releasing her Quirk with a pained expression on her face as her hands fell limply to her sides. She struggled in vain for her hands to move, however even the slightest movement caused a new wave of agony even though she could move every other part of her arm without any difficulty.

A cursory glance showed that Kaminari was currently bundled up and unable to move which meant that he would be officially out of the battle. But it meant that Jirou could still try and reach the bomb if she didn't act fast. Even as Jirou started to move to get up, a purple foot forced down on her back, effectively pinning her in place as Kaori's left foot glowed slightly through the material on her left boot.

"I may not be able to move my hands right now from sensory overload, but that doesn't mean I can't use my Quirk on other parts of my body. You've lost, Jirou. You said yourself that you can't act offensively without risking the building integrity. Kaminari's tied up and I have you pinned. There's no way you can win."

"Says you." Jirou commented dryly before stabbing both of her jacks into Kaori's foot clone without a second though, the sudden sensation of throbbing vibrations passing on to Kaori's own foot causing her to wobble on the spot due to her already odd balance from one foot being raised into the air.

"Seriously?! After I just got shocked by your partner?! I'd hardly call that heroic!" Kaori barked out as she fell over onto her backside with a yelp.

"Sucks to be you, I guess." Jirou commented as she sprinted past the white-haired girl as down the hallway in the direction of the stairs that lead to the next floor and the bomb that Yaoyorozu was guarding.

Kaori swiveled her body around as Jirou got further away before reaching out with her Quirk in one last ditch move she hoped would give Yaoyorozu enough time to win for them. Her eyes flashed purple one last time as her right foot did the same. Kaminari's eyes widened as he saw what was happening while Jirou had her back turned.

"Look out!"

"Huh?" The girl turned slightly to look behind her – that action being her own undoing as mere seconds later she tripped over an object that suddenly blocked her feet, causing her to tip over and slam into the ground with a rush of air leaving her lungs. She shook her head for a moment before getting up to her feet and giving Kaori the stink-eye. "Really, you tripped me?"

Kaori smirked. "Sucks to be you, I guess."

Jirou blinked for a moment before nodding with a smirk of her own. "You know what, well played." With that, she sprinted off down the hall towards the goal.

Kaori sighed to herself as she moved into a sitting position with her back against the wall as she continued to wait for feeling to return to her still numb hands from Kaminari's electrical attacks.

"You know, you've got a really weird Quirk." Kaminari commented from his tied up place a little ways away.

"At least it doesn't get me nicknamed Sparky."

"Fair enough."

* * *

"The Villain team wins due to timeout!" All Might's voice echoed over their earpieces a few minutes later as the test ended.

By that point in time, Kaori could sort of move her hands, though her fingers were relatively uncooperative as she tried and failed to undo the haphazard knot she had tied Kaminari up with. With a defeated grunt she simply took to sitting next to the blonde boy's form as they patiently waited for their teammates to arrive down the passage they were in. Moments later, Jirou and Yaoyorozu walked around a corner while chatting to each other before noticing the other two and moving to help untie Kaminari and get him to his feet.

"I have to say, that was quite a risky move enduring his electrical attacks like that." Yaoyorozu commented to Kaori as the four of them walked towards the exit of the building and back to the compound their classmates were in. "But it appears to have worked since it gave me enough time to stall Jirou."

"I mean, I could have just broken the wall by putting enough sound through my jacks, but there was no way of knowing if it would have been too much or too little to actually form a decent opening." Jirou commented with a wave of her hand. "Either way, it took me way too long to get through, and there was no way I was beating you one-on-one."

"Be that as it may, I would say we all did quite well. No one was seriously maimed and yet we all got to show off our abilities in some capacity." Yaoyorozu turned an eye toward Kaori and Kaminari with a slight grin. "Though some of us did enjoy showing off a little bit from what I hear."

"Yeah, yeah, Miss I-can-make-anything. Definitely only SOME of us showing off." Kaminari commented with his hands clasped behind his head. "You're allowed to brag you know."

"It would be unprofessional of me to do so." Yaoyorozu replied plainly as she feigned a look of ignorance.

"Whatever you say." Jirou commented with a nonbelieving tone as Yaoyorozu stopped for a moment with her hands balled into fists at her sides with an indignant look on her face.

"It would!"

Kaori simply laughed at the moment as she got the chance to bond with more of her classmates besides Mina and Kirishima. If this was what most of her class was like, with only odd exceptions like Bakugou existing in the group, then odds were good that she would enjoy her time spent at U.A. immensely.

If only she knew what was in store for them all.

* * *

 **And once again I managed to pull out a slightly longer chapter than I originally expected this to be. And just like last time, it would have just felt weird to split it up over 2 parts, so it ended up slightly longer than my average chapters tend to get.**

 **For those that have already noticed and probably wondered about it, yes I am reusing some of the existing scenes that occurred in the manga/anime albeit with some slight deviation of perspective through Kaori's point of view. And of course, now this weeks chapter actually reflects the cover art for the story that I received a few weeks ago.**

 **All in all, this story has been an absolute blast to write, and I can't wait to continue progressing along through the story of MHA but with some additonal spins I plan on happening down the line. I hope you're all as excited as I am!**


	9. Chapter 9

**More of a filler chapter this time around just to ease into the next big thing that I know people always look forward to. I'll be honest, I have no idea if that particular segment will take one larger chapter, or two. I guess I'll find out when I sit down to put them together before I understand better what exactly will happen, but a good part of me thinks it will end up being the latter. Either way, enjoy this weeks update for the time being and I will see you all again in a couple of weeks.**

* * *

Kaori walked along with a calm expression on her face as she approached U.A. the next day. After enduring the first two days of school, between Aizawa's fitness tests and All Might's battle training, she felt like things couldn't possibly get more unexpected between the two teachers. As fate would have it however, her morning didn't exactly start out as calmly as she would like as soon as she turned the corner to approach the archway that lead to the school. Dozens of TV reporters and cameras were cluttered around the entrance, likely due to the massive media attention thanks to All Might now acting as one of the teachers at said school. The moment one of the reporters noticed her and the school uniform she was wearing, the crowd shifted to focus on her as she tried to force her way through to the gate.

"What's it like having All Might for a teacher?!"

Kaori groaned inwardly as she tried to ignore the question being repeated, albeit with a slightly different phrasing each time. She had always hated how the media wanted to drive their way into the personal lives of Heroes, and had always been thankful to her father for making it clear that when he was at home he was to be left alone when she was younger. Especially after one day where the press had decided to focus on his budding young daughter rather than the man himself.

That day had shown Kaori how much of a hornet's nest the media could be when they bombarded you with questions, never giving you enough time to respond to one thing before asking five more of you at once. The entire ordeal had brought the young girl to tears, something that her father had responded to very quickly by increasing his size to the point of standing seven feet tall and hovering over the crowd with a glare as he made it clear that his home life was to be left alone going forwards.

With a brief sigh of defeat, Kaori realized that the reporters wouldn't relent in any way unless she gave them some sort of answer before getting through. With a barely disguised grimace of disgust, she turned with a forced smile to the first person with a microphone that she could see – a younger looking woman with her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"He's the number one Hero and he's teaching at U.A. What's there to get?" Kaori started, the blunt statement catching the lady off-guard for a moment before she pressed once more.

"Yes, but as a teacher, how IS All Might?"

"He teaches us how to be the heroes of the future. That's it. I don't get what kind of answer you expect from any of us since we've only been her for like two days." Kaori retorted as the mask fell and her face changed to one of disinterest. "If you really want an honest answer, try again in like a month or something when we actually have an idea ourselves. You're just wasting our time otherwise."

"Well!" The woman replied with a huff as she backed away from Kaori. "Clearly they don't teach you student's manners if this is the way you all act to a simple question."

"Maybe it's because you don't let us have any space to ourselves? It's no wonder some heroes try and avoid you guys."

With that, Kaori turned with a roll of her eyes as the woman spluttered amongst the crowd while her cameraman tried to calm her down. Looking through her peripherals as she did so she noticed a few other classmates approaching the gate, and walked away quickly as she wished them a silent apology as the media fell upon them in earnest.

* * *

"First things first. Yesterday's battle training seems to have gone well, save for a few case examples." Aizawa started as everyone sat silently in their seats. His eyes first angled to face Bakugou as he continued speaking. "Bakugou. Stop wasting your talents so much and grow up. This isn't a game." His eyes shifted only slightly as he addressed the person behind the spiky-haired blonde. "And Midoriya. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but you have potential if you can work past this constant destruction of your own body. Just trying isn't going to do it at this point in time." His eyes then returned to a sheet of paper in his hands before he addressed the class as a whole. "As for today, there's one thing that needs to be taken care of right off the bat. And that is…"

The whole room filled with a nervous tension as everyone expected some new bizarre thing that they would have to take care of that morning.

"Deciding on a class president."

Multiple voices rose up at once as many of Kaori's classmates practically leapt out of their seats stating that they should be the president. It was obvious that this position meant a lot more than the more mundane setting it had in the regular school system, as here it represented being a leader amongst aspiring Heroes. But that didn't mean just anyone could do it. Kaori sat calmly in her seat like some of the others in their class as she watched the more childish antics of some of her classmates while they practically pushed against each other in earnest. That was, until a clear and resounding voice echoed through the room.

"Quiet down, everyone!" The sound of Iida's voice resounded off the walls. Kaori turned her head with interest as she tried to see him through the throng of people in the middle of the room. "This is a task of immense responsibility and should in that case be treated as such through the trustworthiness of the candidate in question. Therefore, I believe that we should put this matter to a vote to determine who is most befitting of the position!"

While some voices put out their protest at the claim, stating that this was simply a classroom rather than an office of government, Kaori had to silently agree with Iida's assessment. While it would still turn it into somewhat of a popularity contest or series of people voting for themselves, only the people that get votes because others deem them more worthy would really be fitting for the position.

"I don't care how you all do it, just don't take too long." Aizawa stated without a care in the world as he climbed into his oversized sleeping bag and shifted so that he was lying on the floor.

* * *

By the time everyone was done voting, it was clear who the class believed was the most suited for the task as only two names had more than 1 vote allotted to them. Those being Izuku Midoriya and Momo Yaoyorozu. What was slightly more confusing…was that they both had the same number of votes at 3. Different voices spoke up as a majority of class sat in confusion as to what they were supposed to do.

"How are we supposed to determine who the class prez is when two people got the same number of votes?"

"Why not just share the duties between two people? That would work, wouldn't it?"

"Would it though? How do you even figure out splitting duties like that?"

Kaori groaned as she fought the urge to face plant her desk while everyone acted like chickens with their heads cut off. "Did anyone think to actually ask the two of them what THEY think?"

As one entity, the entire class turned to face Yaoyorozu and Midoriya, which consequently put Kaori directly in their line of sight as she sat right between the two of them. Suddenly the seat she had chosen didn't seem so smart in the long run.

"I'm just saying, no one is actually thinking to ask the two people that got the most votes what they think. Doesn't that make a little bit more sense?"

"You know…I think she has a point." Kirishima replied from his seat in the classroom.

"Yeah, but would either of them even want to share responsibility like that?"

"I may not have received a vote due to the cruel reality of office, but I believe we should let the two of them decide! It is the just thing to do in this scenario!" Iida exclaimed from his seat, even as he hung his head due to receiving zero votes.

"Kind of ironic coming from the guy who proposed the idea in the first place though…"

Everyone turned to look at the two top voted students expectantly, waiting for some sort of reply. Midoriya seemed frozen to his seat as Bakugou glared at him with a vengeance. Yaoyorozu appeared slightly disappointed, yet thoughtful as she held a hand to her chin in thought.

"I will admit, while I would have preferred the position myself, I can accept the task of sharing the responsibility with Midoriya."

"Good." Aizawa stated quickly as he shifted into and upright position and shuffled out of his cocoon. "So Midoriya and Yaoyorozu will be co-presidents for the time being unless things change in the future. With that out of the way, let's move onto today's lessons…"

* * *

Kaori nodded silently in thanks as she was handed a tray of food from Lunch Rush, her feet quickly carrying her away from the lineup as she looked around for a place to sit. As she did so, a hand tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to whirl around in surprise; barely holding back a shriek of surprise given how focused she had been on the tables sitting in the large hall. Her eyes widened as she realized who it was that had gotten her attention.

"Kendo?" Her eyes wandered to the person next to her as she did another double take. "And Shiozaki?"

"I was wondering how long it would take before we got a chance to talk to you again after the day of the Entrance Exam. It's a shame we didn't end up in the same class, you know." Kendo commented with a smile.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But at least we didn't get completely split up." Kaori replied with a smile of her own.

"That's right. There was the boy from that day as well; Kirishima, right?"

Kaori nodded before speaking again. "Yep. Though I wouldn't have minded have the two of you in our class if only to shuffle out one or two less savory types. There's this one guy that is just obsessed with fighting and violence that I wonder how he even ended up in the Hero Course."

"I'd take that over the weirdo we ended up with. I swear, every time he opens his mouth it's like not a single decent thought exists in his mind. When we voted on a class president, he tried using a rule that the girl's skirts had to be shorter as a way for him to gain popularity." All three girls shuddered at the thought – Kaori as she tried to imagine how depraved someone could be, the other two because of the look in his eyes as he had stated such a thing. "Either way, I ended up as the class president, so there's no worry about THAT happening anytime soon. What about yourself?"

Kaori shook her head sharply with a overly-dramatic look of fear. "Nothing like that for me, thanks. I get that it's more important than what we would have had in elementary, but it still feels like more of a popularity contest than anything to me. No offense, but I'm keeping my interests solely on being a Hero for now. I don't care if I'm not the most popular person around."

"Well said." Shiozaki nodded with a small smile of her own. "We should let our good actions speak for us rather than pander to the whims of others."

"I don't know if I would go THAT far, but I can agree with the first part." Kaori remarked after a moment of contemplation. "Anyways, we should probably eat, huh?"

"That would probably be a good idea."

And so, the three of them found a table with some empty space on it so that they could catch up a bit on the previous two days. Kirishima and Mina eventually joined them as they spotted Kaori and had walked over after getting their own food, Kaori and Kirishima quickly introducing Mina to the other students from Class 1-B as they all conversed amongst the five of them.

That is…until an alarm suddenly started blaring loudly.

"THIS IS A SCHOOLWIDE ALERT. SECURITY LEVEL 3 HAS BEEN BROKEN. ALL STUDENTS, PLEASE EVACUATE IN AN ORDERLY FASHION."

"Security Level 3? The heck is that?" Kirishima wondered aloud as a look of realization dawned on Kendo's face.

"It means someone's broken into the school! I remember reading it in the school's handbook that they sent everyone!"

Kaori, Kirishima, and Mina all shuffled awkwardly for a moment as they hadn't fully read or in some cases even touched much of the student handbook that they had received given how early in the year it was. Regardless, it meant that they need to move. And fast.

"Everyone stay together!" Kaori called over the noise of students panicking while she tried to stay with the other four. "Call out if you get lost in the crowd!"

"I don't think we need to worry about that with how squished together everyone is!" Kirishima barked back over the chaos. "I can barely tell where my body starts and someone else's ends with how tightly packed everyone is!"

"Couldn't you just try using your Quirk to harden yourself and get a better idea?" Mina asked from nearby.

"I could, but it could hurt someone if they're pressed too tightly against me in the meantime. I can't really control how hard it is at the moment, just more of an on and off switch!"

"Well, we'll save it for an emergency if it becomes necessary! I just wish this crowd could actually move forward rather than getting stuck on everything! At this rate we're not getting anywhere!" Kendo grumbled as she tried to wiggle herself a little bit of breathing room around her, to no avail.

"Wait…our Quirks! That's it!" Kaori remarked as a dawning of understanding crossed her face. "Kendo! Your Quirk lets you enlarge your hands, right?" Kaori was able to make out the nodding of said redheads face as she looked over to Shiozaki. "And Shiozaki, yours lets you extend and manipulate your hair however you want, correct?" Another nod of the head was all she need before she shifted to face everyone as they stood crammed together. "Then here's what we do. Shiozaki can lift me on top of Kendo's hands since I don't have enough space to make projections of my own, and then I'll use the extra visibility up there to try and get people's attention. Kirishima, you need to brace yourself and act as a shield for Kendo so that she doesn't get knocked around and cause me to fall, got it?"

"I think I can manage that."

"What about me?" Mina asked with an eager look on her face.

An apologetic look crossed Kaori's face as she turned to face the pink girl. "Sorry Mina. Even as slime your Quirk would likely just cause a pileup of people rather than helping make room or anything if you made a slick. Can't chance it."

"Eh, was worth a shot. Just like Heroes, not everyone can help in every situation." The pink girl shrugged her shoulders and continued to smile back at her. "Maybe I should have voted for you instead of myself for the president position, though."

"I'm kind of having the same thought to be honest." Kirishima remarked. "I kind of feel selfish for voting for myself, to be honest."

"It doesn't matter right now we need to try and calm everyone down. Is everyone ready?" A brief exchange of nods was all the answer she needed before readying herself. "Aright, Shiozaki. Lift me u-"

Her words were rapidly cut off as a person sized object rocketed across the hallway and collided with the wall over the doorway. Upon closer inspection it appeared to be one of her classmates, Iida, as he stood precariously on the door-frame minus his trademark glasses.

"Everyone remain calm! It's simply the media! There is no reason to panic and behave in a manner that is insulting to this esteemed institution!"

* * *

After a brief time where everyone shuffled back to their homerooms, met with a brief farewell to Kendo and Shiozaki with the promise that they would get together again at some point, Class 1-A gathered once more as Midoriya and Yaoyorozu addressed the class as a whole.

"Before we decide on the other members of our student council, I believe Midoriya has something he wished to state to the class." Yaoyorozu addressed everyone before shifting to the side to give Midoriya the full attention of everyone.

The shorter boy shuffled awkwardly as all eyes turned to him in an instant. "After the events of this morning, I don't believe that I deserve one of the positions as class president for you all. So in that regard…I believe that Iida deserves the position more than me." The nervous green-haired boy's posture suddenly straightened as a more serious look rose on his face. "After seeing what he did in the heat of the moment when the security alarm went off, I believe that he fills the position better than I would."

Comments of approval and acknowledgement filled the room as people voiced their support of Iida's rise to the position without any mention of how he had zero votes to start. Kaori was among those giving their own silent approval as she turned to gaze out the windows and onto the school grounds. She agreed that, despite how much of a workaholic Iida appeared, he did still care about the wellbeing of the class. A trait very similar to her own mother that allowed her to be where she was as one of the most sought after temps due to her versatile Quirk that allowed her to work multiple different kinds of jobs. However, it didn't make her regret her vote for Yaoyorozu in the slightest. Both of them deserved the position, and if they could properly juggle the duties laid out for them, then they would have no issues whatsoever.

For the remainder of that day, everything proceeded smoothly as they all continued their classes. However, their week was hardly done with them, as the next day would test the resolve of them all. Whether they liked it or not.


	10. Chapter 10

Kaori and the rest of her classmates all sat anxiously on their seats in the bus that was currently taking them to their rescue training, something that Aizawa had told them to also change into their costumes for before leaving. Still, the bus ride would take a bit of time to travel the distance across campus to where they would be taking their lesson, and so banter between classmates began to ensue as they sought a way to kill time.

"Your Quirk is a lot like All Might's, Midoriya." Tsuyu stated plainly to Izuku at one point in the ride.

"R-really?! I-I mean…m-maybe…but…" The green-haired boy stuttered out, seemingly caught off guard from the frog girl's statement. Considering All Might was the No.1 Hero, Kaori wasn't surprised considering that could sound like an incredible compliment of all things.

"Wait a sec, Tsuyu." Kirishima spoke up from nearby. "All Might doesn't destroy is body when he uses it though. They're completely different." Kirishima paused for a moment as he stretched out one arm and activated his own Quirk. "Beats mine though, either way. Strength enhancing Quirks are way cooler though, considering how many things you can do with them. Beats mine anyways. Hardening is great in a fight and all, but it's seriously boring."

"I don't think so! Your Quirk is totally great to go Pro with!" Midoriya commented earnestly.

Kaori had to agree with the boy as well. Despite what Kirishima thought about his Quirk not being flashy enough, it was by far one of the most useful Quirks in their class given the extra level of endurance it gave him in combat. While it didn't make him fly, super-fast, or other odd things like some Quirks that existed, it was a perfect Quirk to help protect people or fight Villains with. It would be much harder for something to happen when an effective brick wall was blocking your path or hitting you square on the jaw.

"If you want a strong and flashy Quirk, I think Todoroki and Bakugou would have you beat though." Kirishima replied.

"Yeah, But Bakugou's so rough around the edges that no one would like him." Tsuyu quipped in response almost immediately as she gestured with one hand towards the blonde teen in question.

"What was that frog-face?! I'll kick your ass!"

"See what I mean?"

Kaori couldn't help but chuckle silently to herself, so as to avoid Bakugou's wrath being directed in her direction as well as some of her classmates as people commented on Bakugou's sour personality. It was entertaining really, to see someone so confident in their skills get knocked down a peg for being unpleasant to deal with on a regular basis. She could still remember the first day of classes and Bakugou's outbursts whenever someone talked to him even remotely. It never came across as very Hero-like, to be completely honest.

"Hey, calm down and get ready." Aizawa commanded from the front of the bus. "We're here. Get ready." A resounding chorus of "yes sir" was all that was given as everyone quieted down, though no one was exactly calm as the large facility they would be taking their lesson in came into view.

* * *

"Welcome to this facility that I made to help train you all for any sort of disaster!" The Pro Hero, 13, welcomed everyone as they took in the site of the massive facility and its various components. "I call this place the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ!"

Taking in the sites around them, Kaori realized that some of her classmates commenting on the acronym being just like Universal Studios Japan might be more on the nose than they think given the variety in disaster zones. There would be all sorts of ways to test a person's abilities when pitted against different conditions. Her attention was quickly returned to 13 as they addressed the class again after briefly having an aside with Aizawa.

"My Quirk, Black Hole, can be used to help a great number of people. But used the wrong way it can also be used as a weapon of mass destruction. Thanks to Aizawa's fitness tests and All Might's battle training, you all likely have a solid grasp of the effectiveness of your Quirks and the potential risk it can pose when used the wrong way. Today, rather than using your Quirks to fight or compete, you will be using them solely to help people."

Everyone looked eager as the thought of further training with their Quirks sat on the horizon, with Kaori especially having looked forward to this moment. Despite her Quirk's effectiveness in combat depending on what was going on, she had never really enjoyed fighting if she could help it. When she had realized the potential to alter the size and reach of her projections, she had always dreamed of being able to protect people from danger without a moment's hesitation. She realized that fighting was inevitable, but she never had to enjoy it despite her needing to know how to in case of an emergency.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed as the fountain in the centre of the facility faltered a few times before a ripple in the air began to form. Within moments, a large black shape sat in the centre of the facility, as bodies began to take shape and exit from the portal en masse. Everyone looked on with confusion before a sharp rebuke from Aizawa commanded them all to stay put with 13. It was at that moment that Kaori realized what was going on.

They were under attack from a large group of villains. And they were vastly outnumbered.

Things seemed to happen in a blur for the next few moments after Aizawa leapt into the fray and began to take out the villains left and right. A large purple being – the one creating the portals – formed in front of them and addressed the group. It introduced itself and the other foes as the League of Villains with one sole purpose – to kill All Might. Kaori felt her legs begin to shake as the reality of things began to set in. She knew that one day he would get into a serious fight that may risk her life, but this soon?! It didn't seem right for them to have to endure something like this so soon in their first year when they barely had a full understanding of what was expected of them in this place of learning. Before she realized what was happening, Bakugou and Kirishima had charged straight at the Villain without a second thought, only to miss as its large mass simply wafted around their attacks. Whatever it was, stopping it would be incredibly difficult.

Completely on auto-pilot, Kaori activated her Quirk as she reached out to pull back Bakugou and Kirishima as 13 called out for them to get away. It was in vain however as the being extended across their group with an ominous tone and Kaori lost sight of everyone. As she felt herself sinking, she thought she saw Iida's hand reaching out for her, only to fade to black as she fell through one of the Villain's portals.

* * *

After a rough landing, Kaori looked around fearfully to see where she had ended up. As far as she could tell she appeared to be in the landslide zone, but she couldn't tell if anyone had been transported with her at that moment in time. Quickly getting up and brushing off some stray dirt from her costume, Kaori looked around in panic as she tried to figure out what direction the entrance to the facility was. Given how large and expansive it was, she hadn't been able to pinpoint exactly what direction the landslide zone had been so that she could rejoin with her classmates.

Not that it would matter in the end.

"What do you know, boys?" A sinister voice came from somewhere behind Kaori, who quickly whirled to face whatever it was. Her eyes widened with heightened fear as she took in a group of over a dozen Villains standing clustered not too far away. "Looks like they sent us a present after all. After all that time setting things up, I was starting to wonder if we were going to get some action in. This one looks nice and weak, too."

Whether the person speaking was the leader of the group or not didn't matter to Kaori at that moment in time. All she knew was that she needed to get away as quickly as possible. A quick cursory glance showed that despite the size of the group they weren't very spread out, and so it would make it incredibly easy for Kaori to use her hands like a wall and simply walk around the group while utilizing her projections for defense. With that thought in mind, Kaori tried to take a calming breath to cam her nerves so that her Quirk wouldn't run the risk of faltering in her presently panicked state of mind. The last thing she needed was for her Quirk to suddenly fizzle out while her mind was unable to focus on what she needed it to. Just as she started to move towards one edge of the group however, a loud voice called out from off to her side.

"Leave her alone you jerks!"

Everyone, Kaori included, stopped what they were doing as they turned to face the person that had shouted. What was further strange was the fact that no matter how hard they looked, no one could see anything to dictate a person being there. That was, until Kaori's eyes happened to notice something odd about the way some of the dirt and rubble was behaving at one particular spot not too far from where she was.

It was Toru Hagakure; one of Kaori's other classmates with a Quirk that made her invisible somehow. Kaori's eyes once again widened with panic as she realized something about the current situation. Toru's Quirk might be useful against one or two opponents if she could catch them unawares, but against a larger group like this even one of them spotting her could spell disaster if they ganged up on her.

"Who the hell said that?!" The Villain that spoke from before yelled out. "Show yourself if you want to protect this one so much, or we'll kill her quick so that we can stomp your cowardly ass next!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Toru's bubbly voice began to start coming from a different direction as Kaori could see light footsteps begin to form on the ground as she started moving in an entirely different direction than Kaori, likely to try leading them away.

Unfortunately, Kaori's worries about someone else noticing proved true almost immediately as the speaker's eyes widened for a moment as they looked in the direction of Toru's voice while others shuffled back and forth anxiously as they got more and more worked up for a fight.

"Think your so clever just because we can't see you, huh kid?" The man's face slid into a sinister grin as he cracked his knuckles loudly. "We'll see how confident you are when you can't move!"

The Villain thrust both of his arms out from him as they extended past the length of a normal person's arms. His Quirk appeared to be some sort of reach based Quirk, much like Kaori's. But not nearly as effective as it appeared to have both a travel time and likely a limit to how far his body can reach.

* * *

Kaori felt an odd calm pass over her as the thought of Toru being captured by the Villain's and being trapped entered her mind. She would likely be hurt or tortured in some way before the thugs finally killed her. And it would all be because she tried to lure them away from Kaori because she was too cowardly to fight when the situation called for it. All because she was too afraid of legitimate confrontation after the scarring image of her father's death was planted in her mind so many years ago.

She could almost picture the sad and disappointed look on her father's face as well as her classmates as the news of Toru's death would come to them, followed by the looks she would likely get for being part of the reason for it, even if some people tried to convince her that it wasn't her fault, that the Villains were the ones to blame.

She would likely end up leaving U.A. in disgrace as she was unable to commit to being a Hero. All of the time spent being mentored by her father's old teacher having been wasted as she was unable to stand up like she had promised many months prior.

...

...

...

...

Was that really what she wanted, though? For everyone's efforts to get her here be in vain? She knew that it was normal for a person to be scared, and that it happened to heroes on a regular basis. She could still feel the lingering fear of getting into danger as her past flashed before her eyes for an instant, the landslide zone and thugs replaced with a dark figure and a ruined city street. But was it even fair to compare the two? She would always fear the person that took something so dear from her, there was likely no question about that. But she wasn't about to let some petty bullies break her.

Not this time.

* * *

A steely expression covered Kaori's face as her eyes flashed purple and her hands lit up with the same hue. Without a moment's hesitation both of her hands also thrust forward like the Villain's had seconds ago. But instead of having to wait for travel time, the Villain's appendages were suddenly stopped in place as two purple hands appeared out of nowhere and latched tightly onto his wrists.

"What the fuck?!" The Villain's face shifted to one of shock as his arms suddenly stopped extending to Toru's location. "What the hell is this shit?!"

"Dude, it's the girl from before!" One of the other Villain's spoke up as they pointed in Kaori's direction. "She's fighting back or something!"

"I can see that you twit! My hands are kind of stuck from whatever her Quirk does, obviously! Do something about it while I try and deal with this other pest!"

"You got it, boss!" With a clear goal in mind, a few of the Villain's rushed Kaori at once as they activated various Quirks.

Even though Kaori needed to maintain line of sight for her Quirk to remain effective, she could still see the Villain's rushing her due to the group having being lumped together rather closely. Whoever the guy with the extending arms was, he was the boss of at least a few of them. But that didn't matter at the moment as Kaori would need to be defending herself in much closer proximity in a few moments. With that thought in mind, she collapsed one of the projections grasping the reaching arms to free up one hand before winding back one arm and delivering a long range punch to the side of the hand of the same Villain, both to throw him off target and to also make him lose track of Toru for a brief second to let her keep moving to wherever it was she was going.

With the main Villain taken care of, Kaori now had both hands free as she released her projections and turned to face the oncoming Villain's directly. Regardless of what their Quirks were, if they were rushing Kaori then they had to be based in close-quarters.

Unfortunately for them, Kaori could fight in close proximity just as much as she could long range thanks to her training. But that didn't mean she wanted to fight a bunch of people mobbing her at once despite that. So with another quick wind up and swing, she delivered a solid punch through her Quirk as she created a fist the size of a person's head in quick succession to the closest Villain with a sickening crunch to the face. Their body collapsed in a heap from the sudden knockout as Kaori took up a stance while the remaining two Villains came within striking distance of her actual body.

One of them leapt off the ground and came at her feet first as spikes formed from the bottom of their feet like cleats. A quick sidestep had Kaori dodging the attack with ease as it had been largely telegraphed before she reached out with her Quirk and grabbed one of their arms and swung them back into the bulk of their companion, knocking both of them to the ground in a heap. Whoever these Villains were, they were practically just street thugs with no real training in their abilities.

Given that knowledge, Kaori suddenly grew a lot more confidant in her odds as she quickly delivered a pair of sharp jabs with her hands to pressure points on both of the villain's necks, knocking them out without a moment's hesitation. If she had the fine precision to utilize her Quirk in such a way on a moving target then it would make fights that much easier, but at present she could only rely on more large scale tactics to stop things. That or simply relying on estimated guesses for where things were heading much like she had with the Villain that had reached for Toru. She hadn't needed much in the way of precision for that stunt.

If all these people were was the effective equivalent of children with their abilities, then Kaori had no reason to fear as much for her safety. Still, a lingering cowardice lingered in her mind as she chose not to rush the remaining Villains at once to try and stop them quickly. After all, she didn't know what kinds of Quirks the rest of them had. And she still had to keep an eye on the one that could extend his arms in case he chose her as his target rather than Toru.

This was a good choice to make, as moments later she had to bend back rather sharply to avoid one of said Villains fists from colliding with her face. Instead of immediately swiveling like she expected the fist to do and change directions, it instead retracted back to the Villain as he grunted in disgust. It seemed his Quirks drawback was even more effective for Kaori than she previously thought. Apparently whatever direction he propelled his fists in the Villain couldn't alter their trajectory in any way. So when he had started reaching for Toru, he would have likely missed unless he had been aiming ahead of her to try and grapple her. And if Toru had been paying attention, which Kaori couldn't tell without seeing the girls face, she would have simply altered her movement to dodge it anyways.

But before Kaori could act on this knowledge, she suddenly felt herself being hoisted up by the neck with a choking sound. Her eyes turned to face a woman the size of an amazon as she held tightly to Kaori's throat. It seemed that this person had a small scale version of Gigantification, of just didn't have full access to its capabilities just yet.

"You need to pay more attention, kid." The person currently choking out Kaori chuckled with a dark look on their face. "Just because some of us were in front of you, you never thought to look back and see if anyone else was sneaking up on you? Rookie mistake."

Kaori tried to pry the woman's grip off of her neck before looking down towards her feet, her vision quickly returning to the woman with a smirking despite the choke-hold she was in. Her voice came out in a raspy tone as she addressed her captor. "Just because I have a blind spot…doesn't mean you've beaten me just yet…"

A confused look crossed the woman's face as she tilted her head somewhat. "Girl, I am literally choking you of your last breath right now. How exactly do you have a chance at beating me and surviving?"

Kaori was barely able to choke out the words as her eyes twinkled purple once more, though her arms remained colourless as they clutched at the woman's grip. "…You didn't pin me."

Her eyes snapped down in an instant, followed by a loud thumping sound echoing across the air as a projection of Kaori's foot collided solidly with the woman's groin. A grimace of pain and surprise filtered across her face for a moment before her grip on Kaori slackened and she collapsed to her knees with a gasp of pain. Kaori took a few quick moments to catch her breath before turning to face the woman who still held her hands to her groin in pain. Most of the remaining Villain's took a few steps back in fright as their hands reflexively went to their groins as a safety precaution, their main priorities being to keep their family jewels safe. One advantage to the majority of the Villains being male save for the one person Kaori had just stunned.

"Gah!" Said woman gasped out as she slowly got back to her feet. "Bit of a cheap move to make, isn't it?" The amazon commented as she towered over Kaori with a frown. "You're supposed to be a Hero-in-training, kid? Where's your sense of honor that so many of them spout off about?"

Kaori couldn't help the double take she did at the woman's words, her head snapping back with a look of disbelief. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Yeah, I am! You're all a bunch of goodie two-shoes, you don't fight like that!"

Kaori gave an exasperated sigh and shake of her head after just staring at the woman for a moment. "…Yeah, I'm not doing this right now."

A moment later, the same large woman lay unconscious on the ground as Kaori massaged one fist after creating a larger projection than she had used on the previous Villains and delivering a fierce uppercut to the woman's jaw, her form going limp as her head was the first thing to collide with the ground from her fall.

"Uh…boss?" One of the remaining Villain's commented with a worried tone. "Are we still supposed to fight this girl? She just took out a bunch of us with ease. I'm not sure I like our odds anymore."

"You're kidding, right?" The Villain with the stretchy arms commented with a wild look. "She only beat four of you through luck. Instead of attacking one at a time, just rush the damn kid already!"

A chorus of somewhat lackluster affirmations was the only response before the remaining Villains started to move towards Kaori, though none of them really had any sort of conviction to their movements. Kaori rolled her eyes as she continued to somehow remain calm despite her previous fear. It seemed that, as soon as she realized that these people were the equivalent to playground bullies and pathetic street thugs in a world of true evil like what Kaori had witnessed the night she had seen chunks of buildings and cars thrown about simply with a person's mind, she wasn't as afraid of fighting anymore if the need called for it.

* * *

After what felt more like training in Maki's dojo than an actual fight, Kaori stood within a circle of unconscious thugs while the Villain with the extending arms fumed just ahead of her.

"You bunch of pathetic morons! How could you let yourselves get beaten by one girl?! I swear, when I see that hand freak again I'm going to knock him senseless for not giving us more info on this place! I didn't sign up for this!"

"…Are you done?" Kaori commented with her arms crossed over her chest.

"No, I'm not done! You beat all of my gang and barely broke a sweat! What kind of monster are you that you could do that?!"

"…Dude. I'm not even the strongest out of us. You wouldn't have stood a chance against some of our classmates. Especially not the one that can literally freeze entire buildings in seconds."

"I don't care about those punks if they're not here! I'm just going to finish this by killing you so that I can at least get some satisfaction out of today!"

As the Villain brought back both fists to deliver a pair of punches to Kaori, his jaw head suddenly snapped forward with a cracking sound before his body collapsed in a heap. As his body fell, Kaori noticed the floating gloves and stationary shoes as the telltale sign of Toru.

"I had him taken care of, you know." Kaori replied, a thankful smile on her face regardless.

"Yeah, I know." The girl's bubbly voice came back in reply. "I just wanted hit at least one of them before you stole all the fun."

Kaori shook her head with a smile before it was suddenly replaced with a look of shock as a loud bang filled the air and an object collided with part of the facility's roof before flying outside with a massive explosion from some of the lighting fixtures and walls. Kaori didn't even look in Toru's direction as she started sprinting in the direction the object had come from, worry etched across her face.

* * *

After regrouping with the rest of the class, Kaori heard about what had happened in the centre of the facility, between Aizawa and 13 being beaten bloody, All Might's arrival and subsequent beatdown of the "Nomu", and the final arrival of the other staff with Iida – whom had gone off in the beginning to find them to try and bring help as quickly as possible.

"She was so intense the whole time, too!"

Unfortunately for Kaori, Toru was having too much fun embellishing how the fight in the landslide zone had gone.

"That many on her own? Not bad." Kirishima commented with a nod of his head.

"Makes you wonder if we might have some other contenders for best fighters in our class besides Bakugou and Todoroki, huh Kirishima?" Mina commented, bringing up the comment Kirishima had make back on the bus when they had had been first arriving at the USJ.

"Woah now, don't put me on tier with them!" Kaori snapped back in rapid succession. "There is zero contest there." Her voice then lowered so that others, namely Bakugou, were outside earshot. "Plus, I do NOT need a target painted on my back for Bakugou to come after, thank you very much."

"Whatever you say, I stand by my comment." Mina replied while casually putting both hands behind her head with her tongue poking out of her mouth playfully. Kaori gave Mina a dirty look while Kirishima laughed at their expressions while everyone started to move back to the bus to take them back to the main campus. Kaori couldn't help but feel compelled to look back at the facility for a moment as she thought back to what had all just transpired over the last little while.

All in all, things had gone well, mostly. Their teachers had all been left in a state of disarray, and Kaori couldn't help but feel her fists clench in anger at the state Aizawa and 13 had been in when she got back to everyone. But they were all alive and that was what mattered. Kaori could only smile at that fact as she climbed onto the bus with everyone else.

"I haven't been completely honest with you guys." Kaori commented oud enough for Kirishima and Mina to overheard her.

"What's up? Something bothering you?" Kirishima asked with a look of confusion.

"…Kind of?" Kaori replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "You guys remember the other day when I said I wasn't ready to talk about stuff yet?"

"Yeah. But you don't have to feel pressured that you have to talk about it so soon!" Mina replied earnestly with a look of concern , her voice coming out in a rough whisper as she tried to keep attention away from their group. "Especially with the rest of our class right here!"

"If they happen to overhear it, then whatever." Kaori replied with a committed look. "This has to be said now while I still have the courage to say it."

"I'm a coward. Always have been." Kaori raised a hand to cut off Kirishima and Mina, both of them opening their mouths in what was likely an attempt to refute her claims. She couldn't help but notice a few stray pairs of eyes glancing in their direction, likely having overheard previous parts of the conversation but politely staying out of it - at least verbally. "But I never explained why. When I was a kid, I lost my dad when a Villain attacked our neighborhood."

"Wait, a Villain attacking is what scared you off of being a Hero?" Kirishima scratched his head with a lost look. "I don't get it."

"Not all Villain's are simple street thugs, Kirishima." Mina chastised the boy with a scolding look. "Besides, I'm not sure you're one to talk after that incident in middle school."

A pained look crossed Kirishima's face. "Okay, low blow. But I gotcha."

Kaori waited for the two of them to return their attention to her before continuing. "Yes, A Villain was what convinced me to not be a Hero for a few years. But it's not because he was a Villain that he stopped me. It was because of what happened to my father when he faced him that terrifies me to this day. Because the one thing I didn't get to yet was that my dad used to be a Pro Hero." Kaori's hands clenched on her lap as she took a deep breath to try to calm her now fraying nerves.

"His Hero name...was Bastion."

* * *

 **Alright, now that this beast of a chapter is out of the way, I'll get to the important bits. I could have broken this up into two parts, but I really couldn't see it working in any way without splitting up the fight somehow or having a short climax chapter with Kaori's admission following the main fighting chapter. But I wanted to get this particular arc taken care of. The ending of this portion can best be described as Kaori admitting that fighting actual Villains will always bother her. But she also accepts that it's something that is normal, and uses that knowledge to continue fighting regardless. She is by no means over her fears, and going up against someone like Shigaraki, Stain, or the man from her past will not likely be a thing she will be able to do for some time still. But she is growing and that's what matters.**

 **Obviously, what comes next is the Sports Festival, Hero Names, and the Internships. Needless to say, more things will be getting altered here since I've been recopying a decent portion of the first arc quite a bit. And that's mainly my own choice. I felt that the opening arc as it was did the job quite effectively at establishing things, and I didn't want to take away from that. Obviously the only differences I really made was having some of 1-A's students know some of 1-B ahead of time, rearranging two students in the USJ Attack (Obviously Todoroki got shifted to the Flood Zone with Midoriya and Tsuyu since there is no Mineta in Class 1-A, thus they needed a way to stop the Villain's quickly while still utilizing Midoriya's whirlpool tactic), and focusing on the Battle between Jirou/Kaminari and Yaoyorozu/Kaori.**

 **I hope you've all been enjoying this story of mine so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy it as we continue on this tale. Needless to say, you haven't seen anything yet.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Relatively short chapter this time around. Rather than have nothing at all for a break towards the next arc, I chose to instead have a short little transition chapter to lead us into the next big story event. So for now, this is just a sweet little segment to move things along. I will see you all again in a couple weeks when we get started on the Sports Festival arc.**

* * *

"Honey, are you sure that you don't want to call in sick tomorrow?"

Kaori sighed with shut eyes as she stared ahead at the TV in their living room while her mother continued to clean the dishes from that night's supper. It had been pretty much this scenario ever since she had gotten home due to her mother hearing about the attack on the news.

And it was starting to give her a headache.

"Mom, I already explained this. Aside from Mr. Aizawa and 13, everyone else came out alright. Plus those calling off classes would just prove to the Villains that attacked that they actually had some sort of effect. Giving them that sort of confidence would just encourage further attempts. And next time it could be more actual threats than street thugs like there was this time."

"…" Kaori's mother was silent for a few moments while she finished putting away a pair of plates. "…I know, honey, believe me. I still remember the way your father would describe some of his jobs and why they had to approach things the way they did. But that doesn't make me any less uncomfortable to the knowledge that someday it will be you in those scenarios. You're all still just children, after all. Shouldn't that count for anything?"

"Not when the Villains are just as okay with attacking us as they are the adults. We HAVE to be prepared in case something happens and we don't have the protection of people like All Might or Eraserhead to watch over us." Kaori stared ahead at the blank screen of the television screen, her head still facing away from her mother.

"…I just hope none of your classmates ever had to deal with the sorts of things we have. It's not all glory to be a Hero like most believe."

"…Even if they didn't know before, I'm sure they know now…" Kaori's voice petered off as she curled her legs up to her chest atop the couch she was currently resting on.

"After an incident like this, I should hope so."

"…Because I told them about what happened to dad."

The two of them spoke at once, Kaori's mother turning to face her daughter in surprise before turning back to continue cleaning the remaining dishes.

"I will admit…I'm surprised." Her mother stated plainly after a long stretch of silence. Kaori was silent as she continued to look ahead from the couch. "What prompted this sudden change in attitude?"

"…Honestly…I'm still not entirely sure myself…" Kaori replied, barely loud enough for her mother to hear.

"That seems like an odd reason to admit to your father being a former Pro. I remember what you were like during elementary after everything happened. You ended up shutting everyone except a small group of your classmates out because you didn't want to talk about Heroes anymore. And suddenly now, barely a week into your lessons at U.A., you've chosen to tell everyone your secret. I'm not certain whether to be proud or concerned."

"…It wasn't meant to be the entire class at first, just a couple classmates I've bonded with since the first day. One of them was even someone I'd met during the Entrance Exam. But one thing led to another, and everyone overheard who my dad was. I couldn't really hide it after that."

"…And?" Her mother's question caused Kaori to turn around and face her with a confused look.

"And what? I don't understand the question."

"How did your classmates react?"

"Honestly," Kaori started before looking out the nearby window with a thoughtful look on her face. "Not as strongly as I expected them to. I figured someone was going to burst out oud claiming that I was lying and there was no way I could be the kid of a Hero, but I guess I also have to remember that these aren't my elementary classmates anymore. Despite their ages, most of the people at U.A. are incredibly mature for their ages save for a few instances here and there."

"Well that's a relief, at least." Her mother stated before turning back to finish putting away the dishes. "I wasn't sure how you would react to their responses depending on how things went this time around, so hearing that it went relatively smoothly is good. My only concern is, why now of all times?"

"I think…" Kaori paused as she turned around completely and rested her head on her crossed arms over the back of the couch. "…I think it's because of what had just happened. I was able to fight past my fears and protect myself and a classmate from some of the attackers, and I felt like I actually had the courage to admit the truth after trying to pretend it didn't matter. But after also seeing the injuries that Mr. Aizawa and 13 had sustained trying to protect us…it just felt like the appropriate time to admit it."

"Well, regardless of how it happened, I'm glad that you were finally able to shake off some of your fears, sweetheart."

"That's just it though, mom. They're still there." Kaori admitted as she placed a hand over her heart. "Even though I was able to fight, I was still scared out of my mind about what could have happened if I messed up. I don't know if I could handle another incident like that if it were to happen again soon."

"Then let's just hope that the staff at U.A. holds up their promise about bolstering their defenses, huh?"

"I doubt they would be willing to let something sloppy happen after all the attention the media is likely going to throw their way." Kaori practically spat out as a frown took over her face.

Her mother sighed as she put away the dishtowels before moving to sit by her daughter on the couch and place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know how you feel about the media. But it's also their job to report on what happens."

"Couldn't they do it without trying to nitpick everything the Heroes do though?!" Kaori replied with an exasperated sigh. "Even Heroes like All Might aren't perfect, and yet they act like this was a huge tragedy on U.A.'s part when they couldn't have done anything about it!"

"That's just the way they are, dear. I doubt they'll change anytime soon considering this was more or less what they were like back when your father started being a Hero as well."

"Well, it's stupid. I just wish they could focus more on the good the Heroes do rather than all of the mistakes that are made."

"That's why people like you exist, Kaori." Her head turned with a renewed look of confusion at her mother's statement. "You are one of the people that are inspired by the things they do, rather than focus on the harm they can't prevent or try to mitigate. And as long as people like you exist, the opinions of the media won't matter quite as much, now will they?"

"No…I guess not." Kaori smiled softly as she leaned over to give her mother a hug. "Thanks, mom. You always know what to say."

"Years of practice, sweetheart. Years of practice."


	12. Chapter 12

"Don't tell me you guys aren't nervous at least a little bit for the festival in a few weeks?"

After hearing about the U.A. Sports Festival during homeroom that morning from their heavily bandaged teacher, practically all of Class 1-A was eagerly anticipating the approaching events that would allow them to show off their talents to the general public as well as compete with one another. Though some showed a little more restraint than others in regards to how vocal they got about their anticipation. Hence why neither Kirishima, Mina, nor Kaori were even remotely fazed by Kendo's question while they ate lunch that day.

"We just had to fight off a bunch of Villains yesterday to protect ourselves," Kirishima stated matter-of-factly, "how is something like this supposed to make us nervous in comparison?" Kaori cleared her throat intentionally to get the others attention following Kirishima's comment.

"I think what he means to say is," she began after the others turned to face her, "after having to fight for our lives even if we are nervous for the games, which of course we still are, it really isn't going to show as much."

"I get what you're saying," Kendo replied, "but you should probably be a little more careful about how you guys say stuff like that. There's a lot of other first years – especially a few from mine and Shiozaki's class – that think you guys just want the spotlight for yourselves after what happened yesterday. Everyone's talking about it giving you an unfair advantage for the events."

"Well they're just being sourpusses." Mina snarked with her trademark grin. "If they really want to prove that they're the best then they should save it for the field."

"I always thought you were more the type for talking and partying than for fighting, Ashido." Kirishima commented with a confused look as he turned to look at his classmate. "What's got you so eager? I thought Uraraka was the only one that was acting odd today."

Mina reached over and gripped the collar of Kirishima's uniform tightly before responding. "Dude, how can you NOT be super excited about this?! It's like a giant mosh pit where we all get to duke it out with our Quirks! I'd figure you of all people would be super stoked for something like that!"

"Are you kidding? Of course I am! It'll be exciting as hell to have that many people competing in one place and showing off their Quirks!"

The two of them slowly descended into their own little world as they piggybacked off of each other's excitement and fell into a back-and-forth session of hype. Meanwhile, Kaori turned her head in both surprise and confusion when she felt a light tap on her arm, turning to face Kendo with a perplexed look.

"Well it seems like you guys are already set for the competition." Kendo started with a smile of enjoyment on her face at Kirishima and Mina's actions. "But just keep an eye out for some of the other first years, alright? I doubt as many of them are as friendly with some of your class as us. Practically none of them really know you guys after all, so they'll start forming their own opinions pretty fast with the way the gossip is travelling."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Kaori replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Don't be so sure of that." Shiozaki spoke up for the first time during this particular conversation. "Not all of our classmates have very…virtuous mindsets…when it comes to their comments on your class. Some of them in general are not the most heroic of people, either."

"Now Shiozaki, just because you dislike Mineta and Monoma, that doesn't mean you should talk about them like that." Kendo scolded Shiozaki much like a mother berating her child.

"I never said any names, simply that some of our class are hardly becoming of the next generation of Heroes." Shiozaki feigned ignorance, much to Kaori's amusement as Kendo gave her a knowing look.

"I'll keep it in mind and keep an eye out for some of the other students. Though I doubt I can say the same for some of MY classmates, either."

"I'm sure Kirishima and Ashido will be fine, despite their eagerness."

"They're not the students I'm the most concerned about." Kaori replied with a look of hesitation and dread.

* * *

"Out of the way, you extras."

" _Goddamnit, Bakugou._ " Kaori grumbled to herself internally as she rolled her eyes at the blonde boys comment while everyone else tried to figure out how to leave their classroom despite the large mass of other first years suddenly scoping out their class. She carefully got up from her seat and grabbed her bag to leave for the day now that classes were out.

"…Are all the kids in the Hero Course like you? Because if so, I have to say I'm a little disappointed."

Kaori was just finishing approaching the doorway when she noticed the boy with the large purple haircut step forward from the crowd and address Bakugou's commentary. Despite being an ordinary person, given how many Quirks seemed to alter a person's appearance in some fashion, Kaori had a feeling that there was more than met the eye with someone as straightforward as this boy.

"There are a lot of us here that never made it into the Hero Course and got shifted to General Studies when we applied for this school. But did you ever consider that if we happen to do well during the competition that they might bring some of us up into the Hero Course if some of you are shown to be incompetent? For General Studies kids like us, this'll be the perfect chance to knock you off your pedestals and claim your spots for ourselves. Consider this a declaration of war."

A sudden rise in tension filed the air after the boys final words, though the feeling didn't last long as another voice suddenly piped up from within the crowd as people could be seen stumbling aside from something moving within the masses.

"Is this guy supposed to be all there is of Class 1-A after the Villains you all fought yesterday? Don't make a joke of the damn Hero Course if this is all you have to offer!"

" _Kendo and Shiozaki weren't kidding when they were commenting on some of the other students, geez._ " Kaori thought to herself as she watched Bakugou push his way through the crowd after commenting on reaching for top and not caring about the competition. " _But is it really so smart to just disregard the other classes, though? I know Bakugou is smarter than that based on how he fights and uses his Quirk, but why rile them up like that?_ "

Following that series of confrontations, the following weeks leading up to the festival were filled with hard training and practice whenever they weren't taking their normal classes. For Kaori, this meant working even harder during her sessions with her mentor at his dojo, meaning more bruises and scrapes as she wrestled with other students of the dojo.

"Someone's got a fire in their belly all of a sudden!" Maki stated loudly as Kaori sat taking deep breaths after a particularly strenuous session with a new punching bag. "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with any sort of upcoming competition, would it?"

"Not entirely." Kaori gave a short response as she reached for a water bottle and took a long swig of it before standing back up to move over to a nearby set of weights as she continued to work out. "You heard about the attack that happened the other day, right?"

"Hard not to. It was plastered all over the news like it was the news of the century. Still is." The older man sighed as he stood in the doorway to the training room and watched the young girl exercise. "They're not wrong, though. No one has ever attempted an attack like this before on a school as large-scale as U.A. I can't imagine the encounter was pleasant given what you've been through, either."

"It sucked." Kaori replied curtly as she finished a set of lifts with the bench press. "But that's not something I can dwell on. I'll just get caught in a loop and do what I did years ago all over again. I can't do that now, not with everything I promised to myself."

"Good." Maki nodded approvingly as he continued to watch the girl while simultaneously taking a quick peek out into the rest of the dojo to make sure nobody was doing anything stupid. "The last thing I want to see is the fire in those eyes die. There's too much potential in you for it to go to waste like that."

Kaori gave her mentor a look before responding to his latest comment. "Is that you as my mentor talking, or the person who knew my father?"

Maki gave Kaori a strong look before he gave a deep sigh and relaxed his shoulders somewhat. "When your father was here years ago, he was practically like a son to me. So you could say that when it comes to you, it's like helping raise another grandchild. I don't want to see any part of you give up if I can help it. But I also don't want to see you broken. Not again."

Kaori calmly got up from her weights as she quietly moved over towards the man that was training her. She stopped in front of him and looked up into his face for a few moments before moving her arms and body to give the man a tight hug despite the size difference between the two. This caused the larger man to shift somewhat in surprise at the young girl's actions, though he settled into it easily enough as he brought up one hand to gentle stroke at the hair on her head while the other came up to rest on the square of her back.

"I will NEVER let you see me like that again, I promise." Kaori replied with a confident voice as she held onto the man. "You and mom have done so much for me, even though I can't quite remember all of it. It wouldn't be fair to either of you for me to quit now with where I've gotten." The two stood like that for a few silent moments before Maki began to speak once more.

"I still remember the day when your father first told me he and your mother were going to have a child. I'd never seen him so excited and yet scared at the same time. The thought of the two of them raising a new life made him as happy as could be, but at the same time scared as all hell because he wasn't sure if he was actually capable of doing something like that."

"Wait," Kaori asked with a confused look as she turned her face up to look into the man's eyes. "DAD was scared of something like that? No way."

Maki nodded his head with a bright smile. "As scared as anything I'd ever seen. He wanted to make sure you were raised right, and so he fretted over every little thing to make sure he wouldn't screw anything up. I'd say he did okay, all things considered."

"Me too." Kaori replied before breaking the hug and started to move back towards the equipment in the room.

"Now, there's one thing I want to ask of you when it comes to the Sports Festival."

Kaori turned back midstride to look at her teacher. "What's that?"

"When you're out on the field in that competition…knock em dead."

Kaori gave the man a knowing look before she started to turn back to her equipment to finish her workout.

"You know I will."

* * *

"ARE YOU READY, FOLKS?!" Present Mic's voice carried over the stadium as the crowds anxiously awaited the coming events. "YOU ALL KNOW WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR, SO LET'S GET TO IT! THE CLASSIC EVENT THAT PITS OUR FLEDGLING HEROES AGAINST ONE ANOTHER TO SEE WHO'S THE BEST! AND I'M SURE YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING TO MEET THEM IN THE FLESH! SO LET'S START THINGS OFF WITH THE CLASS THAT BEAT OFF A BUNCH OF VILLAINS WITH THEIR SHEER FORCE OF WILL! CLASS A!"

"I know he's the announcer and all, but does he have to make it constantly feel like your eardrums are being rattled every time he opens his mouth?" Kaori commented out loud as their class made their way out to the field.

"Just be glad you aren't one of the Villains he goes up against." Mina looked over towards Kaori as they walked out to the designated area that faced the stage.

"I suppose." Kaori relented. "I'll take rattled eardrums over no hearing at all."

As they all stood and waited for the other classes to walk out and join the field, Kaori looked around the impressive structure as her eyes wandered across the masses of people there to watch them in action. She knew that somewhere out in those stands sat her mother and her mentor, but she also knew that the odds of spotting them were next to none given the sheer volume of people. They were here though, and all for her, and that alone gave her a large spike in confidence as she mentally psyched herself up for the challenges to come. Even Bakugou's continued declaration of war that painted an even larger target on their classes back didn't deter her. And so it was, that the year's Sports Festival kicked off as everyone got into position for the first event of the games:

The Obstacle Course Race.

* * *

 **I wanted to make this chapter a little longer initially, especially after the exposition chapter last time, but I also wanted to leave the first event as its own chapter rather than include it with this one. Hopefully you guys are okay with that. Worry not, I have plenty planned for some of the chapters surrounding the different components of the Sports Festival as well as the Internship Arc that follows. And I can't wait to get there and start getting into another meaty portion of the story rather than soft fluff like there's recently been following the USJ attack.** **You'll just have to bear with my suspenseful ass in the meantime.**


	13. Chapter 13

The moment the horn rang and the doors opened up to the course, the entire mass of students pushed forward, some shoving others aside in their desperate attempt to gain the upper hand on some of their classmates and opponents. Shouts of frustration and exertion could be heard all around as Kaori moved forward despite the bumping and shoving going on. As cluttered as everything was as they moved through the passage, the moment they reached the outside of the stadium and reached the main course, space would immediately open up and allow her to start using her Quirk with less of a hindrance. However, little did many of the students know that even leaving the gate was going to be their first obstacle.

It was only thanks to their encounter with Villains and being blindsided in some of their fights that many of the students in Class A were able to react in time to Todoroki's wave of ice that managed to ensnare the vast majority of the first years as he quickly gained the lead. As Kaori briefly felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle and a slight chill pass through the air mere seconds before the wave struck, she firmly pushed one foot against the ground to propel herself in an upwards motion rather than forwards like she had been doing seconds ago. Thanks to that split second of time to react, she was able to avoid getting caught in the wave as multiple pairs of feet were firmly encased In solid ice as voices began to raise in protest from the other students.

What it didn't stop, however, was the fact that the ground was now incredibly slick as Kaori's feet found purchase not on solid ground but on a sheet of smooth ice. The sharp sting she felt in her rear as her footing escaped her left a grimace of pain as she hissed from the sudden impact. But she was still able to move her entire body, and that's what mattered. With the way forward now moderately safe to traverse, save for the odd stumble as she struggled to not constantly fall on the ice until she was back to the normal dirt path, Kaori could now clearly see the path ahead without so many bodies clustered around her. A cursory glance behind showed many bodies struggling against their prisons as others made their way around those unable to move forward since they had been further back in the pack of students. With the way forward now much more open, Kaori knew she had a chance to catch up with the leaders after her stumble during the beginning when she had fallen.

As she ran, Kaori began to twist her torso so that her legs were still moving her forward even as her vision focused more on behind her rather than ahead, the world suddenly starting to feel like it was in slow motion as she focused solely on getting this strategy right. As she did so, her eyes and hands flashed purple as she pushed both feet firmly against the ground once more. This time though, she followed up by twisting her legs around to be in line with her torso as she pulled her legs in towards her chest. A moment later, two projections of her hands appeared just behind her feet in a motion that would have been familiar to those in her class had any of them turned to face her in that instant. As time started to move normally for her again, her feet pressed firmly against the enlarged copies of her hands as she pulled her hands towards her in the same action. The combination of the moving hands as well as her pushing against them with her feet caused her body to springboard towards those ahead of her in the race, heads turning in surprise as a body flew past before turning to land smoothly at a run.

Now caught up with the pack, Kaori was able to see firsthand as the assorted robots from the Entrance Exam moved into position to block the runners. Knowing what he was capable of, Kaori was only mildly surprised as a wave of ice encased the closest behemoth and prevented it from moving. This did not last long as the awkward angle it was frozen at caused the ice to crack and buckle shortly after Todoroki ran beneath it and onto the other side. Quick footwork allowed her to easily avoid the debris created as the machine collapsed into the dirt and gravel, her direction now leading her towards some of the smaller machines she remembered fighting. With a quick flick of her wrist and a flash of light along her arms and eyes once more, the robots blocking her path were all shoved to the side as a hand the size of a small car formed in the span of a few seconds and swept the machines into the distance.

For an obstacle course, this really didn't feel that hard to Kaori aside from narrowly avoiding being sidelined by Todoroki's actions as the race began. Those thoughts quickly died as she came to a stop along with many others at the edge of the second obstacle – The Fall.

As Kaori stopped for a moment to catch her breath and figure out the fastest way across, she watched along with her other classmates as another student used equipment to launch themselves out into the open air before reeling themselves into one of the pillars and swing across the gorge like it was nothing. It was obvious that there was still going to be competition in the other classes aside from the Hero Course, but she still hadn't expected something like that to happen. Without much else to do because of the long fall, Kaori simply started slowly moving across the rope much like the others students, watching her balance as she inched forward through the second obstacle. At one point her eyes briefly caught Mina casually sliding across the ropes due to adjusting her Quirk to be slicker and not corrosive in the slightest. In that moment, despite almost being at the other side of the rope she was presently crossing, she stumbled as the foot she was putting forward slipped off the rope and pulled her momentum over the edge. She barely heard her name being called out by someone in a panic as her body began to tumble sideways. It was only due to a kneejerk reaction that she was once again able to catch herself with one hand as she gripped tightly to the rope spanning the gorge.

After taking a few rapid breaths to attempt to calm her nerves at the thought of nearly falling and eliminating herself early on, she began to swing herself forward hand-over-hand like the rope was a set of monkey bars until she was at the other side and able to pull herself up onto the stone surface. For the remainder of that particular obstacle, Kaori made extra sure to not let herself get distracted as she finished crossing the large canyon.

This now left the final obstacle ahead of her as she came up to a large open area that other students were taking their time with crossing due to the mines scattered throughout the dirt. Thankfully the lumps were fairly obvious, making traversing the terrain easy but slow-going. In the distance, Kaori could just make out the form of Todoroki still in the lead, however Bakugo was rapidly catching up due to propelling himself over the mines thanks to his Quirk, much like he had done to cross the canyon and go over the robots in the first two obstacles. It was obvious that in this case Todoroki wasn't willing to use his ice to simply carve a path through the mines as it would also leave a clean path for others to follow on and potentially catch up depending on their Quirk. Many of the other students Quirks wouldn't be as effective in this obstacle due to the limited ground space to work with.

Kaori, however, didn't need to use the ground to progress on this particular obstacle. Due to losing time twice in the race and only being moderately able to save some of that lost time early on, she knew that she would need to put in the most effort in this part of the race to make sure that it made a difference overall. This was why, instead of approaching the minefield slowly and carefully like the others, she ran ahead full speed as her body got closer and closer to the final obstacle. Just as she reached the last stretch of clear ground, her mind envisioned a line in the dirt at the last second as she firmly planted her leading foot on the ground and pushed with all her might. Her body lifted as she treated this like the triple jump in a track and field event, only this time she had to make sure that instead of touching the ground…

Her feet landed firmly on projections of her hands as they popped into existence.

Her body moved quickly as she repeatedly crafted and recrafted projections of her hands as she moved, her actual hands never moving from being raised palm side up in front of her torso. The telltale glow of her Quirk flashed repeatedly along her hands as she effectively carried herself over the minefield through careful placement of her hands to simply allow her to continue leaping from projection to projection. She didn't know how long she would be able to keep it up due to the rapid reapplication of her Quirk beyond what she was used to, but even a slight headache wouldn't stop her as those in the lead began to get closer in her field of view.

That was, until Midoriya threw everything into chaos as he launched himself across the gap. With the timid boy suddenly in the lead, Todoroki and Bakugo pushed ahead even harder rather than struggling against each other in an effort to pass Midoriya as the finish line came into view. Kaori knew at that moment that first place was out of the question, but that wouldn't stop her from reaching as close to it as she could. With a renewed determination, she continued to press onward towards the goal even as other students reached the trail left by Todoroki and began to make faster headway across the last challenge.

It was a mad scramble for the final push as everyone dialed it up to 11 and put in the their last bursts of energy to place as high as they could. Kaori was only able to stop and recollect her thoughts once she was finally through the gate and on the other side of the first challenge in the Sports Festival. She knew she had placed towards the front of the pack, but how close to the top she had been exactly was beyond her. After she was able to catch her breath, she was able to discover that she had come in 12th place out of all of the competitors. Not a bad place, but she had secretly hoped to at least place in the top 10 as a way to prove to herself that she was making strong progress. Just coming short of that goal was almost like a slap to the gut were it not for the words of congratulations she had gotten from her friends in both Class A and Class B (for at least the brief interactions she got with Shiozaki and Kendo before the stink-eye from the other Class B students started to make her nervous). With everyone now back in the main arena, they all were now gathered in front of Midnight once again as she addressed the crowd for the next part of the Sports Festival competition.

* * *

"Now that everyone is here and we know who is moving on to the next event, let's see what's in store for everyone!" Her clear voice rang out over the stadium as the large screen behind her changed from the places of the Top 42 students to two simple words.

CAVALRY BATTLE

"In this challenge, you will all be tasked with forming teams of up to four members in an effort to snag the headbands of your opponents to move onto the third and final round of the Festival! As per the results of the last challenge, all of you have been assigned various scores based on how you placed in the Obstacle Race!"

As this was announced, many of the students began to think aloud about how that meant their team totals to start would be based on the scores of each of the people in the team itself.

"I was just getting to that!"

Something that Midnight didn't exactly appreciate as the MC for the events.

"Yes, that is how your teams will have their scores determined. As per your places, 42nd will have 5 points, 41st will 10, and so on. However," this change of tune caused many faces to look at Midnight with a confused look. "For the student that took 1st place, their score will be…ten million points!"

* * *

It was like suddenly being in a shark tank with 40 other sharks as all heads simultaneously turned to spot the guppy that was Midoriya. Given that the stakes had now just peaked and that anyone could end up coming out on top in this challenge, it was obvious that whoever teamed up with Midoriya was as much at an advantage as they were a disadvantage. Starting off with such a massive score would look good on paper…but unless they could protect those points for the entire challenge it wouldn't mean anything.

With that in mind, Kaori knew that to guarantee doing well in this challenge, she would need to rely on both skill as well as trust. And she could already easily pull up a few faces and names in her mind as to who she would want to partner up with to also synergize their abilities. All she would need to do is as-

"Hey, you're one of the students in Class A, right?" A male voice came from behind Kaori as a hand tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yeah, can I help yo-" Kaori started as a tingling sensation suddenly started to bump around inside her head. What was confusing about that was that the only other time she felt a sensation like that was whenever her friend Yori tried to push through some of her walls when she was actively trying to lie about something. Not that it ever worked in the end. But this…this was different. It was less of a gentle probe and more of a forceful push. And no matter how much she tried to fight it, it wouldn't stop snaking its way through her mind.

Kaori tried to speak as she realized that her words had been cut off as she was finishing replying…but nothing happened. She never felt the words in her throat or the sensation of her mouth moving as her body continued turning to see a familiar face standing in front of her. She couldn't do anything as her body finished turning itself around.

"I'm going to need your assistance in making sure I get to the next challenge. Your Quirk seems pretty useful, so you're going to help me prove that I can stand up there with the rest of them."

Kaori felt an instinctive fear creep through her as her head slowly nodded in an almost mechanical fashion to their statement. From the corner of her eye she could see some of her friends and classmates trying to get her attention…but no matter how hard they tried her body just ignored them as she followed after the boy that had spoken to her. Here she was, about to get the chance to work together with her friends and classmates again, but unable to due to suddenly losing control of her own body.

And it made her want to scream.

* * *

 **And with that, the first event of the Sports Festival has come to a close. I know that not everyone may necessarily be for some actions I take as I tweak a few things here and there in the established canon, but this is Kaori's tale. Everything I do will be for a reason whether it be in a short span of time or something meant for more of a slow burn for later parts of the story. Either way, it's not being done just to screw with things for the hell of it. Regardless, I am very much looking forward to the remainder of this festival and the internship arc to follow as I have some pretty fun ideas in mind for what will happen next. Rest assured, things won't be slowing down much for the next little while.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Starting off the chapter with the AN this time around. A lot of you are probably wondering why this chapter is up a day late. And that is because...frankly because a good half of this chapter initially was just bad. And since I didn't have a chance to revise it last night following work, I made sure I did it first thing I got out of bed, even if I did sleep in a bit. It's still not great, and does skip through a few things a little bit, but I definitely feel like it's better than what it was previously. Hopefully you guys still like it. Otherwise, I will see you all again in a couple weeks for the usual update.**

* * *

Kaori struggled as much as she could without actually being able to move to try and free herself of whatever control now existed over her body. Whatever the boy had done when he'd spoken to her, it had robbed her of the ability to act on her own. And with the cavalry battle just getting underway, she needed to find a way to break free of it so that she could do things her way. She could tell from watching what was happening that this boy knew what he was doing when he put her under his control. A flick of her wrist there, and quick projection there, and other students never even realized what had happened to their headbands until it was too late.

This went on for a good few minutes as different groups went after one another. As her body moved and turned to do the boy's bidding, she couldn't help but notice some of the other teams that her classmates had formed. It was clear that many of them had chosen not to team up with Midoriya for plainly obvious reasons. His band was worth the most to obtain, and would likely be easier in some way to capture than it would be to protect when nearly everyone was targeting you. She wanted to yell out an apology to Kirishima and Mina as she saw them teamed up with Bakugou. They looked like they were doing fine, but she knew that in those brief seconds before she'd been whisked away by her current team leader that they had been seeking her out to team up. And it made her chest hurt as she feared how they must have felt in those moments. She would be sure to give them a heartfelt apology once this was over and she had given the boy a piece of her mind for snaking into her mind like he had rather than just asking her like a normal person.

Kaori thought of any possible way to break free of the control, but it mattered little as a loud horn went off and everyone seemed to stop moving. Moments later, Kaori felt control of her body return to her as the boy hopped down from her shoulders and onto the ground in front of her and her classmates that had also been brought under his manipulation.

"Hey!" Kaori yelled to the boy as he calmly stood in front of them with his back turned and his hands in his pockets. His torso shifted slightly as he turned back to face her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know what you did…but the next time you want to try digging through someone's head to get them to do whatever you want, how about you ASK first? Trust me, if you do that to me or anyone I know again, you WILL regret forcing yourself in like that." Kaori took a deep breath as she struggled to maintain control over her emotions. "There's only one person I know that has a Quirk that can get inside your head even remotely like that…and she's the ONLY person I let into my head under any circumstances. Consider that a warning."

"…Good to know." Was all he said as everyone turned to receive the results for the cavalry battle and learn how the final event was going to go.

* * *

As everyone took some time to rest before the tournament round began, Kaori found herself silently wandering through one of the halls of the building, deep in thought. As the results had been announced, most of them had been caught heavily off guard when Ojiro had resigned from the tournament due to not remembering much of the cavalry battle. That realization alone had Kaori now deeply wondering why it was that she had been able to even remotely remember what had been going on, even if it had been slightly disjointed due to the near out-of-body experience she had endured. If her fellow classmates hadn't been able to recall what had occurred, what about her was different that she had been able to retain at least a part of her senses?

Either way, while she could have spent all day focusing all of her thoughts on that, she also knew that she needed to focus on her first match in the battles. It already had her grimacing at the thought of what was likely to come.

After all…her last fight against Kaminari hadn't been the most pleasant feeling.

* * *

"You guys are sure that we're okay?" Kaori asked with a worried look as she spoke to Mina and Kirishima.

"We already told you, water under the bridge!" Kirishima tried to calm Kaori as he put his hands on her shoulders with a clapping sound. "Besides, you said yourself you weren't really in control. Just like Aoyama and Ojiro!"

"And it got you into the third round, anyways!" Mina added as her bright smile took up most of her face. "Who cares how you did it!"

"Tell that to Ojiro. I'm sure he'd love to hear that." Kaori stated plainly as the two calmed down somewhat. The look of guilt on Mina's face showed that Kaori had perhaps a bit too harsh with the delivery of that statement. "Hey, Mina, I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." Her hand reached out to touch her other friends shoulder, but was brushed aside as the pink-skinned girl gently lowered it with her own hand.

"No, you're right. I got too caught up trying to cheer you up I didn't consider how he might be feeling about all of this. It's so weird, though. A Quirk that controls another person I mean."

"Yeah, you'd think that he would have been a shoe-in for the Hero Course with an ability like that. I wonder why he wasn't." Kirishima pondered aloud as he put a hand to his chin in thought.

"Believe me, I had some time to think about that when the battle first started before I just focused on watching what was happening." Kaori replied as the two turned to face her with looks of interest on their faces. "And I think it has something to do with the way the Entrance Exam is setup."

"What do you mean?" Mina asked with a tilt of her head.

"Think about it. All we did was fight a bunch of robots and show off how powerful or versatile our Quirks were at the time. But someone like him, without any sort of physical benefit, is only able to manipulate people by talking to them or looking at them, or something like that. What if he can't control things like inanimate objects?"

"But he can still control people, though! Shouldn't that count for something?" Kirishima stated with a look of confusion.

"I don't get it either, but it's the only likely possibility. I doubt they really have time to screen through every student and do tailor-made tests to show off the fullest extent of their abilities. It would take up too much time and resources to do that with how many applicants there were." Kaori stated with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's probably just another reason why the Sports Festival exists. It lets them see the other applications of students that didn't end up in the Hero Course initially and see if they need to change things around somewhat."

"Well I hope Midoriya can think of something to stop him if he does get control, then. They're the two facing off in the first round after all."

Kaori shook her head sadly as she began to reply. "I don't think there even is a way to do it on your own. I tried to move my body or do anything when I was under his control, but nothing worked until he let go on his own after the event as over. If Midoriya gets caught by it…that's pretty much it for his chances in the tournament."

* * *

As it turned out, Midoriya actually did find a way to snap out of the hold Shinso was able to put over him. Kaori's eyes had widened in shock as she had seen his body stop just shy of the border for the battlefield as a mighty gust of wind had suddenly burst across the battlefield. How on earth had he been able to regain control against something to seemed to steal exactly that from a person until they were given it back freely? Did he have some sort of immense mental fortitude that allowed him to resist it in some way? Was it something to do with his Quirk in some bizarre manner? Or was Shinso's power only useful up to a certain point and he had reached that limit? Whatever it was, Kaori had to wonder just who Midoriya was as both combatants left the field to make way for the next set of fighters.

Not that the next fight was going to last long, though. Even as talented as Sero was and how versatile his Tape Quirk turned out to be, it was no match as Todoroki stopped him while barely moving, a giant glacier of ice and snow erupting from in front of him and trapping the poor boy inside. As individuals entered the field to clear the ice as quickly as possible, Kaori knew her time was next as she headed down to the prep rooms for her own fight. She had come up with a few ideas to try and fight Kaminari with, but she knew that even one simple misstep would cost her due to how powerful his electricity would be if left unguarded. And even then…she knew that this fight was going to likely hurt at least a good amount.

"Get ready for the next fight, sports fans!" Present Mic shouted into the microphone as the entire crowd got worked up for another round in the one-on-one battles. "We may have seen some of the top students in action already, but there's still plenty of talent going on in the Hero Course with this next pairing! First up, he may not look like much, but watch out for his electric shocks! It's the shocker of Class A, Denki Kaminari! And for his opponent, don't misjudge her appearance either! She may not look like an intimidating opponent, but try saying that when she's beaten you without even getting close! Also from Class A, it's Kaori Nomi!"

"Ready for round two?" Kaminari shouted out to her as they both took up their positions while Present Mic announced them to the crowd. "We still have a tie to settle after all!"

"Only if you're okay with losing this time! You only won because I was outnumbered last time. You don't have Jirou to back you up in this fight!"

"I don't need anyone's help to take you out in a split second!"

"Then show me what you can do, Kaminari!"

The moment the fight began, Kaori knew it was going to be down to whoever hit first. This fight wasn't going to be a drawn out one by any stretch of the imagination. Either she knocked Kaminari out before he got off an attack, or she would be paralyzed before she could finish moving. That's just how this fight was going to go. With that thought in mind, she reached out with her Quirk as her right hand began to glow due to her Quirk as a projection roughly the height of Kaminari's body emerged just off to his side. But at the same time, his arms convulsed with electricity as he unleashed a wave directly in Kaori's direction. His lack of ability to really control where his attacks would usually be a disadvantage, but in this case the more ground he covered the more difficult it would be for Kaori to even attempt to dodge. Not that either of them likely cared about that in the heat of the moment.

Kaori could already feel the hairs on the back of her head begin to raise as the wave of energy neared, but that didn't stop her as she moved her arm in a sweeping motion, carrying the projection of her hand directly into Kaminari's body as it began to push him rapidly towards the boundary of the battlefield. If she couldn't shove him out quickly enough, she would be paralyzed first by his electricity and would lose, even if his body did eventually fly out of bounds. In that second, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. She could slowly feel the first tendrils of electricity begin to creep up her feet and into her body, causing her nerves to begin to sting in agony as her entire body became another victim of Kaminari's powers. But it didn't reach her hand first, and that's what mattered most as she put even more effort into moving her arm as swiftly as possible to shove the blonde boy out of the ring.

To everyone else watching, it happened in the blink of an eye. One moment they were staring each other down, and the next a large purple projection of a hand had appeared next to Kaminari and began to shove his body off to the side even as a large current of electricity lanced out and began to electrocute the white-haired girl opposite him. When the horn rang seconds later, one person was propped up on one knee on the dirt while another was looking dead-eyed towards the sky as he lay with a goofy smile on his face outside the ring.

Midnight turned to face Kaori as she knelt motionless on the field. "Can you move at all, Miss Nomi?"

Kaori's body twitched strongly as she struggled to turn her head to face Midnight with a grimace on her face. "B-barely…bu-but…yeah…I c-can." Even her ability to speak had been affected by the powerful electricity that had been surging through her mere moments ago.

"In that case…Kaori Nomi proceeds to the next round! Now, could you help her out of the arena, Kaminari?"

"Weeeee…"

"…Maybe someone else in that case."

* * *

"You're doing absolutely amazing out there, Kaori!" An excited voice echoed over her phone as Kaori sat calmly in the prep room for the students that were going to fight. She was able to move a little more after short rest to allow feeling back into her muscles and limbs after the torture she had just gone through.

"Thanks, Yori. Sorry I haven't spoken to you or Chi much lately. It's been a lot busier here than I thought it was going to be for my first year."

"You're kidding, right?" Yori's tone was noticeably sarcastic from the other end. "You're class had to fight actual Villains not even a week into your classes. How the heck does that even happen?"

"No idea." Kaori was honest was she shrugged her shoulders in response, even if her friend couldn't see it. "All I know is, if that's how things start here, then I'm in for a strange 3 years."

"Well at least everyone has their own talents that let them fight them off! It would suck for someone to get badly hurt in the first few days."

"Yeah…" Kaori agreed with a sheepish smile, remembering back to the brutal damage Izuku Midoriya did to himself anytime he used his Quirk. "…That would really suck for that to happen early on."

"But hey, I couldn't help but notice that you ran into one of my relatives while you were competing today!"

Kaori's interest was suddenly as Yori's words were quickly processed. "Wait, you have a relative at U.A.? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't think it mattered that much to be honest. He didn't end up in either of the Hero Courses, so I never figured you'd really run into him at some point."

"I don't know about that. A whole bunch of students from the other classes came by our homeroom one day a couple weeks backing to scout out the competition prior to the Sports Festival. Maybe he was in that group somewhere?"

"If that's the case, then I'd be surprised if he wasn't. He was always a little upset about how he didn't end up in the Hero Course despite his Quirk. Something about the Entrance Exam being unfair or something."

"What was his name?"

"Hitoshi Shinso. Why do you ask?" Silence was all she was answered with for a little while. "...Kaori? Did he do something again?"

"…What do you mean by 'again'?"

"He's always had a tendency for getting into people's heads without asking sometimes…don't tell me he did that to you?"

"…No, nothing like that. I'm just surprised, that's all."

"…You know I don't need to always use my Quirk to tell when you're lying, Kao. What. Did. He. Do."

"He…might have used some sort of control Quirk to make me work with him in the second round."

"He is so dead the next time I see him. I swore I would beat his face in if he ever used his Quirk on a friend of mine."

"…What happened?"

"He got really protective of me when one of our classmates asked me out back in our second year of middle school. You remember that, right?"

"The guy with the lizard tongue? God, he was such a perv."

"Yeah, well Hitoshi found out and made him string himself up to one of the flagpoles using his tongue before hoisting himself up. He got in serious trouble for it from the school and his parents, but he didn't care. He thought he was doing what was right considering the way that guy acted."

"I mean, at least he meant well." Kaori tried to defend the boy she had, up until recently, wanted to give a piece of her mind. Now she just wanted to warn him to run before Yori got to him.

"But he still made you fight for him without asking, just like he usually does!"

"Yori, please don't hurt him for my sake." Kaori tried to reason with her childhood friend. "He was using his abilities to his advantage, just like everyone else. Besides, after how his fight against one of my classmates went today, I've got a feeling he'll probably do things a little differently…That and the threat I gave him after he let me go."

"…He does it again and I'm not making promises."

"You'll have to get in line then. Tell Chi I said hi, kay?"

A sigh could be heard from the other end of the line. "Fine. And I will. Kick butt out there, Kaori. We'll be watching."

"I'm not stopping anytime soon, trust me."

* * *

"Nomi, huh?" A male voice sounded from a couch as a TV screen flickered with the video feed from the U.A. Sports Festival. "They must have changed their names after the old man died a few years back. Not that I blame them. They probably did it to try and keep their connection to him hidden since he had gone out of his way to make the media leave them alone."

A popping sound echoed through the flat as the cap on the bottle was pried away despite nothing noticeably pushing against it. Seconds later, the cap sailed towards a nearby dartboard and with a face currently plastered to the centre of it. On it was a man with short brown hair and a wide smile on his face with his arm roughly wrapped around the shoulders of another man with a more serious expression and dark brown hair that fell past his ears. He had a small smile on his face as well though, despite his overall expression. The cap itself had managed to lodge its way into the torso of the brown-haired man in the picture.

"Not that it matters anymore. The little girl's decided to follow in daddy's footsteps. Guess that means I've got work to do, then. After all, she should get to meet the Villain that killed Bastion. I'm sure she'd love the opportunity."

"It's been rather boring not using the name Juggler for a while now."


	15. Chapter 15

Following her conversation with Yori, Kaori returned to the stands to watch as the one-on-one matches continued. Apparently while she had been gone, according to some of her classmates, she had missed a bizarre match between Iida and a girl from the Support Course names Mei Hatsume. It had practically been like something out of a TV advertisement, something that Kaori was quite glad she had missed given how campy it must have been because of that. She had nothing against people displaying their talents in the way they thought best, but was now really the right time to be trying to get scouted by companies to work for/with them? Regardless, Iida had apparently won as the girl disqualified herself by eventually walking out of bounds. This meant that the Engine user was going to be Kaori's next opponent when the second round of match-ups began. It was as she watched the rest of the first round that she slowly began to consider how she might combat someone that could very well outrun her projections.

As Kaori paid attention to the fights that followed, she wasn't overly surprised when Mina defeated Aoyama by melting part of his belt. It was no surprise that the boy ended up panicking, both because of his means of fighting being disabled and his obsession with his appearance considering the Battle Training All Might had put them through in the first week of classes. What did surprise her was the results of the next fight as Tokoyami proceeded to utterly decimate anything Yaoyorozu attempted to create to defend against Dark Shadow's attacks. Apparently the creature…Quirk…thing was much faster than they had given it credit for as one of the smartest members of their class was unable to create much in time save for a small shield that was unable to provide the means to fight against Tokoyami and his partner.

Then, Kaori had to keep herself from laughing as she watched Kirishima and one of the students from Class B, Tetsutetsu, proceed to trade blows as both of their Quirks made this into an effective mirror match. Kaori had been just as surprised as everyone when Ojiro had withdrawn from the fights due to not remembering much from the cavalry battle, but she had been even more surprised when Kendo passed along the opportunity to compete as leader of her team to the team that Shiozaki had been on alongside the metal variant to Kirishima. It was that as well that made her think back to the cavalry battle where she had paid witness to a good portion of the combat without actually be able to do anything of her own volition. Had it had something to do with the repeated exposure she had to Yori's effective mind-reading that had allowed her to keep some composure of her senses when Shinsou had taken over? No one else seemed to remember anything that had happened unlike her, so that seemed the most likely scenario. Still, the fact that mental Quirks could interact with each other like that seemed…bizarre. Asking further had revealed that one of Yori's grandparents had a Mind-Reading Quirk, and that Shinsou's and Yori's had both kept aspects of those abilities, though not in the same aspect as other Quirks ended up mingling into the family line to alter things somewhat.

* * *

Whatever the case, Kirishima's and Tetsutetsu's fight ended in a perfect tie as they both collapsed from exhaustion at the same time, thus leading to a call that once they had time to rest they would settle who would move on through an arm-wrestling match. It was an unorthodox way of settling a match-up in what was supposed to be a very high intensity competition, but it was a better option than the two of them just going back and forth forever in a game of fisticuffs. It was with that decision made that they then moved on to the final, and one of the most anticipated match-ups of the first round.

Bakugo versus Uraraka.

Kaori knew full well that a solid portion of their class had already figured that Bakugo would win without any difficulty, but Kaori knew better as someone that used to be an underdog.

* * *

It had been a rather ordinary day back in elementary school when she had first discovered her Quirk. She had been playing with her friends when a bunch of the students had overheard some sort of argument going on at one end of the playground. Apparently, one of the kids in their class that had already gotten their Quirk was bullying another student that hadn't yet unlocked theirs. Kaori had seen what was happening and had decided that she needed to do something, as at that point in her life she was still heavily inspired by her father to become a Hero one day. She didn't have a Quirk of her own yet, much like the young child being bullied, but that didn't stop her from stepping in front of the bully with outstretched arms as though she was providing a shield for her classmate as a bruise could be seen on their cheek from a punch they had received from the bully through the Elasticity Quirk the bully had.

As she had verbally berated the other child from being mean to their classmate, Kaori had received a punch to the face from the same bully as they sneered and claimed that they could do whatever they wanted with the Quirk they now had. As that happened, Kaori's eyes had filled with a righteous fury as she jumped at the bully, her arm pulled back to swing a punch of her own. The other child had no issue stepping back from the punch that the young girl had been sending their way.

What they weren't able to get away from was the sudden appearance of _another_ fist right next to their face as they were spun around from the sharp impact. The other students that had been watching had all turned to Kaori in surprise as she looked down at her own glowing hand with her shining eyes as she had felt the impact on the bully's face even though she knew she hadn't gotten close enough to actually hit them. The ensuing conversation with her principal, something that her parents had been called in for, had been an awkward one as both students were told to apologize to each other for what had happened. Kaori had protested at first saying that she had done nothing wrong and that she had protected someone just like a Hero would, but a scolding from her mother told her that she had still done something wrong by hurting another student intentionally.

The look of pride on her father's face had quickly diminished any shame she may have felt that night however. And from there her journey to be a Hero had begun as her father took her under his wing and began to train her whenever he wasn't busy with Hero work of his own.

After that, the memories were still hazy as Kaori's mind still held tightly onto the lock on some of her memories around the time her father had passed. It seemed that no matter how much she had progressed in recent weeks, she still was nowhere closer to remembering anything from that time save for the very night her father had died and the dark figure that had killed him without hesitation.

* * *

As the fight between Bakugo and Uraraka started, Kaori wasn't surprised when the brunette ran in low to the ground as she needed to physically make contact with her hands for her Quirk to stand a chance at getting Bakugo out of the ring. Bakugo's responding blast that had been released from his open palm was also no surprise as a cloud of dirt and gravel erupted into the air in front of him, capturing Uraraka's body within the cloud and obscuring her from view for everyone. His following blast that destroyed the U.A. Sports Jacket without a person actually wearing it had Kaori leaning forward with a glint in her eyes as she saw the other girl reach out for the angry blonde close to her. Another blast knocked her back however as Bakugo saw the movement from the corner of his vision, returning both of them to their starting positions as the fight continued.

At one point, a few Heroes from the crowd starting yelling about how poor of a sport Bakugo was for attacking a frail girl so viciously, something that made Kaori scoff as her eyes trailed to the cloud of debris slowly forming above the battlefield as Uraraka continued to turn the destruction Bakugo was causing into a weapon of her own. Aizawa's timely intervention and berating of said Heroes was followed with multiple heads turning to now notice what many had not yet spotted above the two combatants. It was at that moment that the floating debris came raining down towards Bakugo in an onslaught. It seemed like at that moment, Uraraka could very well win as the blonde looked up towards the rubble as the brunette ran forward with her arms outstretched. That was, until Bakugo obliterated every piece without hesitation as a gigantic explosion erupted from his hands into the sky. Moments later, Uraraka also collapsed as she attempted one last rush at the blonde.

It was sad, really. She had tried so hard to come out on top, and yet she had been unable to pull ahead despite a solid strategy against her opponent. It just went to show how utterly terrifying Bakugo's Quirk could be that he won so decisively after everything. It was as a stretcher was brought onto the stadium to carry Uraraka off to Recovery Girl that Kaori stared at Bakugo's silent form on the battlefield. Would she be able to defeat someone so powerful with her own Quirk? Or were Bakugo's abilities just that much better due to intelligence and practice that he had gained over the years while Kaori's abilities had barely been utilized for over 5 years? What about against the likes of some of her other classmates? Even if she was able to beat Iida, that still meant she would be up against either Todoroki or Midoriya, two of the other powerhouses in their class.

Suddenly, the competition seemed a lot more daunting that it had initially as Kaori felt a cold sweat break over her forehead.

* * *

Her arms shook like crazy as she struggled to reel in her nerves as she sat in the prep room for her second fight that day. After Kirishima had defeated Tetsutetsu in their arm-wresting match, she had been witness to the terrifying battle between Midoriya and Todoroki. For the first time, Todoroki had unleashed his fire to its fullest as he and Midoriya had clashed with a thundering explosion of power. The entire battlefield had been utterly annihilated, forcing them to take time to repair it while she and Iida awaited their match. She had instinctively thrown up her Quirk to create barriers for her classmates in case any of the debris had come sailing at them, but thankfully no one had been harmed in the blast as everyone had silently watched the field with wide eyes. Todoroki had won due to his body not being launched out of the boundary. Midoriya wasn't so fortunate. His body had looked quite literally broken as he lay slumped against the far wall, unconscious. THAT was the kind of power some of her classmates truly possessed? How could she hope to stand near the top with such a high bar to reach up to?

It was as the combatants were called to the field that Kaori knew that no matter how this fight went…she had no chance in the next round even if she did defeat Iida.

As it turned out, she didn't need to worry for long as Iida came blazing at her using his Recipro to cover ground quickly. He would know full well how Kaori's projections, no matter the size, still needed a small window of time to form. And he had taken advantage of that right out of the gate.

Before Kaori could even process what was happening, she could feel his hands against her back as he rapidly pushed her towards the edge of the combat area. It was only through last minute thinking that she erected a barrier with both hands directly in front of them, forcing Iida to stop or risk running both of them into the projections. She had thought that would be enough, but then they had suddenly changed directions as she felt pressure now coming from her right side as Iida had rapidly moved from behind her to standing beside her and continuing to push.

She had never stood a chance against the Engine user from the moment the fight had begun. Especially since she was barely focused on the fight as the aftermath of Todoroki and Midoriya's fight ran through her mind.

* * *

She could feel Mina's hand gently rubbing her back as she sat hunched over in the spectator seats with her other classmates.

"Hey, come on. You were doing fine out there. No one blames you for not being able to do anything against Iida's speed." Her voice tried to soothe her as Kaori stared at the floor, a slight shake still in her hands while the rest of her had managed to calm down.

"…I appreciate the thought, Mina. But it's not that."

"Then what's the matter? Something's got to be bothering you?" Her eyes briefly flashed to the battlefield where Kirishima was slowly being worn down by Bakugo's continued onslaught. "Don't you think you should be cheering on Kirishima at least a little?"

"How can I give him an honest cheer, when he's at such a clear disadvantage? Just like when I went up against Iida, he's got a great Quirk but it pales next to how well Bakugo knows his own abilities. He may effectively be a brick wall, but he's being peppered by the equivalent of dynamite and he doesn't stand a chance!" Kaori continued to regard the floor for a few moments before she began to get up from her seat and started to walk away. "I need to be alone for a bit."

"I don't think so." Mina started as she got up from her seat and followed after her friend.

"What about Kirishima's fight?" Kaori turned to regard Mina with a small look of surprise despite her current mood.

"He's not the one down in the dumps right now. He'll understand."

The two of them slowly walked along through the facility, eventually coming to a portion of the stadium designated for friends and family of any of the students should they visit the Sports Festival. As they came around a corner, a figure suddenly filled Kaori's view for a split second before she felt her head snapping to the side from some sort of impact.

"Hey, who are you and what do you think you're doing to my friend?!" Kaori could vaguely hear Mina's voice coming from nearby as she stared off to the side from where her face had been spun to following the impact.

"I'm one of her best friends, that's what!" A familiar voice yelled back at the pinkette.

"Best friends don't hit each other like that!" Mina snapped as she moved to block Kaori's body.

"They do when they need some sense knocked into them! I wanted to surprise her with a visit, but now apparently I need to tell her how stupid she's being!"

"Yori…" Kaori began, heads turning to look at her as she turned to face her friend. "…What are you doing here?"

"Well, I WAS coming here to wish you good luck in person and also give Shinsou a good talking to despite what we agreed on. But apparently he wasn't the only one acting like an idiot." A gentler expression came over her face as she reached out for her friend, only to be blocked by an angry looking Mina. "I saw what happened in your last fight, and I saw the look on your face just now. I can't say I know what's eating at you, but I know what it means when you get that look on your face."

"How is hitting her going to help, though?!" Mina snapped back protectively as she continued to stand in between the two girls.

"Because," Yori began with a frustrated shake of her head. "This was how Kaori got anytime she got depressed about something and didn't know how to handle it. Then we would step in and try to talk some sense into her. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. It helps when you have a Quirk that can tell what someone's thinking when you look into their eyes."

"And you expect me to believe something like that?"

"Mina…she's right." Kaori's voice worked in defusing the situation as Mina quickly backed down and whirled to face her.

"Seriously? How is that supposed to help?"

"You remember how I told you about my dad getting killed by a Villain when I was younger, right? She was one of the only people I knew at the time that was willing to put up with me then."

"Wait…you told someone else about what happened to your dad?" Yori's voice was also filled with surprise now as she faced Kaori full on. "I thought that talking about stuff like that was too hard for you?"

"It was. But then we got attacked by Villain's in our first week, and it felt like the right time to bring it up since I was still somewhat confident after fighting criminals on my own and coming out alright. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing."

"…Knowing you, of course it was. You always have been a little spontaneous. I wouldn't be surprised if that kid back in elementary could still feel the pain where you hit him."

"I had just gotten my Quirk, give me a break…"

"Kaori…" Yori's tone caused her to turn to face her friend in full. "I know you still have doubts sometimes. But you know you've still got me and Chi, right?" Yori turned to regard Mina for a moment before a smile appeared on her face. "And judging from the way this one acted, you've got friends here, too. People that care about you and are willing to listen to you. Willing to help you if you need a hand."

"…I know. It's just…it's hard sometimes. I got here and thought I would do just fine, and then I see some of the others out there using their Quirks to the fullest and doing crazy things with them while I'm here still struggling to keep a handle on mine at times when I barely used it for a number of years."

"It just means that when you DO catch up to them, you'll be that much better with it. You're talented, Kaori. You can fight, you can protect people. Shouldn't that count for something?"

It did. Sometimes she just needed to be reminded of that fact as Kaori turned to give Yori a genuine smile before pulling her into a gentle hug of thanks. As she pulled back, the sound of someone clearing their throat came from beside the two girls.

"Sorry to break up this moment and all, but I don't think I've had the chance to actually introduce myself. My name's Mina Ashido. My friends call me Mina." The pink-haired girl said as she bowed in front of Yori.

"Yori Nakajima." The other girl responded with a bow of her own to Mina. "I'm glad that Kaori has someone here watching out for her while we can't. It's part of the reason I came to visit as well. We honestly hadn't heard a lot of things aside from stuff on the news and little things she told us."

"Yeah, things here have been…busy." Kaori said sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head, already starting to feel better after Yori had forced the confrontation like she usually did.

"Apparently too busy to catch up with your friends properly, huh? No, this weekend, we're hanging out and catching up a bit. Chi's been wanting to see you, too." Yori's eyes turned to look at Mina as well. "You're invited as well, Ashido. It wouldn't hurt to get to know the people Kaori is hanging out with now."

"I…might need to invite a few more in that case." Kaori stated sheepishly.

"How many friends did you make since you left us, Kaori?!" Yori exclaimed with faux exasperation, much to Mina's amusement as Kaori noticed the girl giggling. "Are you just planning on replacing us now?"

"Oh, stop it. It's only three others that I can think of off the top of my head. Two of them are girls from the other Hero Course that I met during the Entrance Exam. The third is that guy." Kaori finished as she pointed towards a nearby screen showing the battlefield. Just as Bakugo defeated Kirishima with a wicked grin. "Okay, that was just bad timing."

"What, the blonde thug is your other friend?" Yori asked with concern etching her voice plain as day.

"Nonono, the other one. The…guy he just knocked out."

Yori was silent as she regarded the beat up redhead on the screen. Then, a sly grin formed on her face as she turned to face Kaori with what seemed to be a knowing look. Kaori recognized that look, to which she rapidly responded with flailing hands.

"It's not what you think, Yori! Get those thoughts out of your head, right now! And don't even think about your second option either!" Kaori said with a frustrated look.

"…I'm confused." Mina replied from her viewpoint of the two. "What does she think?"

"Like I said, it's not what she thinks! She's just a weirdo sometimes!" Kaori fretted as she tried to push Mina back to their class's seats. "We can talk more later, bye Yori!" With that, the two girls left a smirking Yori in the hall even as they heard a few words follow after them.

"That's a shame, he is kinda cute after all."

"…Goddamnit, Yori."

* * *

 **And with that, Kaori has unfortunately been eliminated from the competition. Let's be real though, she didn't stand a chance against Iida and his Recipro with how fast it is give that we know canonically that it makes him move fast enough that people can entirely miss him moving at all. On top of that, the reveal that there is a very clear different in terms of skill and practice even within their own class. I don't know about you, but I would definitely feel a little unsure if that were to happen to me. But part of this story is also about overcoming obstacles, so it's not like it wasn't something that would be encountered at some point.**

 **Also, a little bit of extra exposition/back-story for the story, with a little more insight into the minds of some of the other characters. I'm unsure whether or not I actually do a chapter for them actually hanging out and rather just have it be a time for everyone to meet each other off-screen. After all, it would mostly be a flashback chapter if anything to tell Yori and Chi about the happenings at U.A. Rest assured, some parts of it might be brought up later. So it's not like I'm saying their going to do and never make reference to it. I'm not THAT much of an ass.**


	16. Chapter 16

"Your form was sloppy in the second fight."

Kaori sighed as she stepped back from her punching bag, a frown etched across her face as she turned to face her mentor. His stone face looked back at her, almost appraisingly, as she waited for him to say something else. After a few moments of silence, she turned over to a nearby treadmill before stepping onto it and turning the machine on as she began a light jog. To those looking in, it had appeared as though nothing had been said. But then, those people didn't know Maki like Kaori did. What she had seen in his eyes didn't make her proud, as it was a look that she had seen countless times in the mirror when she was younger.

Disappointment.

"…What am I supposed to say?" Kaori asked bluntly as she continued to jog on the machine. "That I'm sorry? That's not what you want me to say and we both know it."

The old man groaned as he placed a hand to his forehead out of exasperation. "Why did you have to be so much like your damned father…"

"I thought that was good thing." Kaori stated plainly without missing a stride.

"It is…save for the overwhelming stubbornness you seem to possess. Normally you're calm and focused like your mother, but the moment something starts bothering you your mind gets tunnel vision to the point where all you do is focus on what you could have done differently."

"Isn't that a good thing, though?"

"Only up until the point where it makes you slip up on the other things you should be focusing on." The man's eyes floated down towards Kaori's feet before he continued. "Like the fact that your shoelace is coming untied."

"My what?" Kaori looked down for just an instant to see that the strand of fabric was in fact coming loose as they spoke. "Oh shi-"

A crashing sound followed by a muffled thud followed as Kaori's lace came undone and caught itself in the treadmill's slide, tugging Kaori along with it as she fell forwards onto the exercise machine before being shot off the back and into the wall. A few curious faces poked into her training room to see what the commotion was, but just as quickly went back to their business with a casual wave of Maki's hand. The old man stood there as he gazed down at the form currently slouched against the wall in an awkward position.

"See what I mean?"

Kaori's sour expression didn't change as her eyes turned to throw a half-hearted glare at him. "…You couldn't have warned me before I got on the machine?"

The old man shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't notice anything before since I wasn't looking. Shouldn't have had to. Normally you catch that sort of thing and retie them yourself. Except this time you were distracted. Just like in your fight against the kid with the speed Quirk."

"…Is this supposed to teach me a lesson or something?"

"Nothing you haven't already learned before. What it DOES mean is that whatever is bothering you has been doing so since your Sports Festival the other day." Maki's expression softened as he walked over to Kaori before reaching to turn down her treadmill gradually, much to her annoyance.

"Look, I'm glad that you've decided to take the two days you have off following the Festival to train a little more, but that can't be what's bothering you."

"And what if I just want to be here so that I can train more?

"Because you're simply using it to ignore what the real problem is. And if you don't talk to anyone about it, you're just going to cause problems for yourself in the near future."

"I DID talk to someone about it. I'm fine." Kaori's tone was harsh despite the image she was trying to portray to the man.

"…Right. And clearly that ONE conversation was enough to solve all of your hang-ups. That's perfectly reasonable." Maki regarded Kaori for a few seconds before turning towards the door to her training room that led to the main lobby.

"I'm still not good enough."

He didn't get far before the sound of Kaori's voice made him pause and turn somewhat to appraise the girl once more following her admission.

"I've got a strong Quirk, I know. But compared to some of my classmates it's like trying to climb a mountain bare-handed to keep up. They either have incredible natural talent or come from Hero families and have trained for years to get where they are." Tears began to stream down her face as she continued. "I did too…right up until I got cold feet and idled for six years. I'm so far behind some of them that it's almost laughable how I even got there in the first place. I-" Her words were cut off as she felt a large form suddenly take up residence in front of her and wrapped its arms around her. "I don't know what to do anymore."

"You're only 15, Kaori." Maki began with a fatherly tone to his voice as he rubbed the shaking girls back. "You're still young enough to have doubts about your future and not be sure of what to do. It's only human. And being able to admit to your faults is a more powerful medicine than anything. It means that somewhere in that thick head of yours," The man poked at the white-haired girls forehead with a wide grin, eliciting a soft bout of laughter from her as she turned her face up to look him in the eyes, "You WANT things to change rather than become complacent with how they are now. You just have to fight for it."

"…My dad was really lucky to have you around to teach him, Uncle Koushi."

The man froze as the words Kaori stated bounced around the room ever so slightly. Up until that point, Kaori had only referred to him as Sensei, Sir, or Maki in rare circumstances (the latter resulting in her being verbally berated for speaking so casually to him around the others, hence it being rare). Not once had she ever called him by his first name or with some sort of familial attachment.

"…Oh crap, did I say that out loud?!" Kaori's eyes widened in surprise as she quickly stepped away from the man and began to rapidly bow in place spewing apologies as quickly as she could. It didn't last long before she was interrupted by the man standing up straight in front of her, his form towering over hers as he looked down towards her. His face was unreadable as she tried to figure out how badly he was going to react to her saying what was on her mind in that moment. As she watched with a growing sense of dread, one of his hands started reaching up towards her head, causing her to scrunch her eyes tight out of worry for what was to come.

What she wasn't expecting was a gentle caress of the top of her head before being pulled into a gigantic bear hug from her mentor.

"…It's been a LONG time since anyone called me that. It's either "old man", "geezer", or the honorifics my students give me whenever they say something. You have no idea how much it means to me that you feel comfortable calling me that even though we're not related in anyway."

"But…I thought we were?" Kaori tilted her head in confusion as the man pulled back to quirk an eyebrow up at her question.

"Young lady, I think you might need to retake some Biology classes to remember how things like that work."

"But you were like a father to my dad based on everything mom told me, so why shouldn't I treat you like family?" Kaori's face grew a smirk as she continued, "Besides, I know you hate being called old so I figured Uncle would be better than Grandpa."

"And there's your mother's side of the family." Maki grinned as well as he ruffled her hair a bit, much to her faux frustration. "That sharp tongue that always knew how to handle your father when it came to most things. I'm glad you got that part of her. His sense of humor was like digging through a dumpster when it came to his sense of what was clever." The older man cleared his throat for a moment as he reached up to brush at his eyes with one hand before regarding Kaori once more. "Anyways, get back to your training and remember what I told you. If you don't like the way things are, then you need to make a change yourself no matter how far it takes you. You won't ever be satisfied up until that point."

"Yes, sir." Kaori mock saluted before turning to stand in front of her punching bag once again before moving into a series of powerful punches and kicks. The older man could only shake his head with the low rumble of a laugh echoing in his chest as he left her room.

* * *

It was with a loud groan that Kaori sat herself at her desk the morning back from their two day break. The train ride as well as the following walk to U.A. that morning had been torture as everywhere she went, people wanted to ask her questions about the Festival when they recognized either her or her U.A. uniform.

And she had hated every moment of it.

"What's got you so sour this morning?" Mina asked with a chipper look on her face as she waltzed over from her end of the classroom. "Didn't sleep well?"

"No, I slept fine." Kaori started as she massaged her temples with a sigh of relief. "What I didn't like was being bombarded with questions from practically every person I walked past this morning about the Sports Festival."

"Wait, you don't like all the attention we're getting? But you had to realize it was going to be like that when you came to U.A."

"I knew that there was going to be some attention because of stuff like that, but don't they realize that we're people, too?" Kaori's face slapped onto her desk even as the bell for class rang out and everyone took their seats before Aizawa entered the room. "I just wish that we could have some sort of personal space sometimes rather than being constantly hounded."

"And that's the nature of media and the public for you. Get used to it."

Everyone snapped to attention with a resounding "Good Morning." As Aizawa walked into the room with his reply to Kaori's grumbling. It was impossible to not notice how their teacher's copious amount of bandages were now gone, even though he did still look slightly more haggard than usual. That was quickly glossed over as class began for the day. At the mention that their Hero Informatics Class was going to be different that morning, everyone began to wonder what that meant, whether it was going to be some sort of quiz or more boring stuff about Hero Laws even if they did need to know about it.

The ensuing response that they would be choosing their Hero Names caused the whole room to break out into an uproar. Something that was just as rapidly quelled with one sharp look from Aizawa as everyone just as quickly calmed down.

What followed was a more serious lecture about the nature of the Pro Hero drafts that had first been mentioned to them briefly two days prior when they had been told that they would have some rest days. The knowledge that these drafts weren't the end-all be-all of their futures set everyone on edge. It meant that they would constantly have to outperform themselves to make sure that they stood a chance at being fully-fledged Pros upon graduating U.A. With that out of the way, Aizawa turned everyone's attention to the numbers next to each student's names on the blackboard. It came as no surprise that Todoroki and Bakugou received the most drafts out of any of them given their skill. What was surprising were some of the numbers next to other names as well as some that weren't on the board at all.

Like the fact that Midoriya had 0 drafts despite his skill while Kaori had over 200 different Heroes that were apparently looking to scout her.

That train of thought was quickly derailed however as Midnight walked into the room while Aizawa moved off to the side as everyone started to figure out the Hero names they would want to use, or at least try, for the foreseeable future.

After 15 minutes of tense silence where everyone poured over the cards in front of them, everyone had more or less formulated the names they wished to try. However, there now appeared to be a new tension filling the air that no one seemed deadest on breaking on the ice for. The matter of who put up their name first to be criticized.

Thankfully, Aoyama went up first with his " _I cannot stop twinkling_ " which was quickly critiqued by Midnight before he returned to his seat. Next up was Mina, and what she chose nearly had Kaori laughing as she struggled to keep herself composed at the girl's particular choice of a name for a Hero. While not surprised that Midnight rejected the name, for obvious reasons, Kaori silently entertained the thought of what might go through people's heads when someone with a name like that was coming to their rescue.

Thankfully, Tsuyu came to everyone's rescue with her Hero name of " _Froppy_ ". Following that was Kirishima with his homage to his idol Crimson Riot, something that Kaori wasn't remotely surprised by given how much she'd heard from him about the Hero whenever something about him happened to come up in conversation. He truly looked up to the man, and Kaori was happy for him that Midnight okayed his choice of " _Red Riot_ " despite the pressures it might face given who it would be connected to.

Eventually, Kaori plucked up the courage to go forward with her name following Mina's revised choice of " _Pinky_ ". She had a feeling that her Hero name would probably change in the years that followed, but it was clear that the stress of having to choose something else in a considerably shorter amount of time could be harsh. And so it was that she placed the card with her choice down for everyone to see as she reached the stand that Aizawa normally spoke to them from.

"The reference to your Quirk is fairly obvious, and I like that," Midnight began with a hand to her chin as she regarded the writing on the card. "But there's another part to this story, isn't there?"

"…Yes, there is." Kaori stated with some hesitation, even though she wasn't surprised at all that the older woman saw through her choice immediately.

"The choice for the Hero name in particular, it's a reference to your father Bastion…isn't it?"

"…Yes."

"Wait, it is?" Kaori wasn't really paying attention to know who asked that as she took a deep breath before speaking again.

"It is. My father chose the name Bastion because it referred to a structure that was used to fortify walls and defenses a long time ago. Something that made people feel safe when they stood behind it because it was meant to protect them. I chose mine…because it refers to something added onto a building to improve on it."

"…I'm sure he'd be honored by your choice, Miss Nomi."

The sense of pride that Kaori felt swell in her chest at Midnight's statement drastically overwhelmed any doubts she had in that instant. For some people, their names could change over the years until they found what they liked. But as of that morning, Kaori knew that she would always be:

 _The Far-Flung Heroine, Annex._

* * *

 **Yay! The name reveal has finally happened! Honestly, I have been anxiously waiting to get this chapter out practically since I started this story. The funny thing is, up until recently I had a different Hero name in mind, but when I looked again at what the definition of annex was, it was a no-brainer that I go with that one instead. It definitely beats Extension when you think about the aspect of it being an homage to her father. On a side note, keep your eyes focused on any update emails within the next few days. I have a...little surprise for everyone over the weekend at some point.**


	17. Chapter 17

"How in the heck am I supposed to choose from this many Pros…" Kaori grumbled to herself as she stared down at the lengthy list sitting on her desk. Now that everyone had chosen their Hero names, they had been given different lists depending on how many drafts they got, or a list of different agencies looking for interns for those that didn't receive a draft pick. When she had realized that countless agencies were looking to scout her, Kaori had felt an immense swell of pride and confidence following her last couple days of doubt and self-reflection. Now, she was lost as to how to choose only 1 from such a gigantic list of Pros. Should she go for someone as high as possible in the Hero rankings? Or search for someone with a Quirk as similar to hers as possible to maximize her learning potential?

"Having a hard time deciding, huh?" Kirishima's voice broke Kaori from her current train of thought as she whirled to face him with a slightly surprised expression.

"What?" Kaori blurted out, her eyes wide like a deer staring in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

"Woah, didn't mean to startle you there. Just seeing what kind of offers you got." The red-haired boy threw up his hands in defense as he backed up ever so slightly.

"…Sorry about that." Kaori replied as she rubbed the back of her head with an uneasy look. "I'm just not sure how to choose who to go with for my internship. I wasn't expecting to get this many offers from Pros, and now I don't know what the best way to decide is. I want to get better as using my Quirk to help people, but I don't know if that means focusing more on using it to fight, or to focusing on using it to rescue them when they're being attacked."

"…Aren't those kind of the same thing, though?" Kirishima asked with a tilt of his head, a perplexed look on his face.

"Not necessarily." Yaoyorozu's voice came from behind Kaori, causing the other two to turn their heads to the girl in question. "What Kaori likely means is using it to intervene directly or using it to get people out of danger from a distance. It's similar to the fight-or-flight response. Does she focus on honing her fight response to deal with a Villain directly, or hone her flight-response so that she can get people out of danger using her Quirk at a distance to get them away from the threat as quickly as possible." Both of them gave Yaoyorozu a stunned look for a few moments before shaking themselves of their surprise.

"I mean, yeah, that's pretty much it exactly." Kaori stated with some awe in her voice. "But even if that's the case, how am I supposed to choose between those two choices when I've dealt with both at different points in time?"

"Well, it's obvious." The ponytailed girl responded nonchalantly. "You work on both at the same time."

"...Does that even work?" Kirishima responded with a quirk of his eyebrow. "I thought the point was to focus at one thing at a time."

"Normally, it is. But that's because the vast majority of Quirk's can only really be used in one way or the other. Not everyone is given a Quirk that allows them to respond differently depending on the situation. Take your Hardening for example." Yaoyorozu gestured to Kirishima as she continued. "Given the nature of how it works, it's clear that it's better suited to deal directly with a Villain by blocking their attacks and throwing back punches of your own. It can't help people from far away since it only affects your own body." Her focus then shifted to Kaori as she gestured to her instead. "Kaori's Projection allows her to either fight someone at a distance or from a different angle, but it also allows her to grab people at a distance and pull out of harm's way if she's able to act fast enough. In her case, she would likely need to master knowing when to use one or the other, rather than focusing on her fight response or flight response individually."

"But how many Pros even have Quirks that function like that?" Kaori asked as she glanced back to her long list of names and agencies. "And even if that does narrow down my list, how would I choose from whoever is left?"

"Well, at that point it would be obvious that you go for a Pro that is as talented as possible at both rescuing people and fighting Villains. Having someone with the most success or experience in those fields together would be the best choice for who you choose as your mentor."

Kaori's head turned back to her list with a frown on her face. " _But, I barely know who any of these Heroes are, let alone the kinds of Quirks and successes they've got. I spent nearly six years ignoring the profession as much as I could, so how am I supposed to know the best person to go with? I don't exactly have a walking encyclopedia of knowledge at my fingertips…or anything…"_ Kaori's eyes slowly turned to the person sitting in front of her as he spoke with Uraraka, who had waked over as the two spoke about getting stronger and their experiences in the Festival. It was with a solid conviction that Kaori reached forward to tap the boy on the shoulder as he finished speaking about how he was an air chair technique to constantly work out the muscles in his body even while in class.

"Midoriya."

The green-haired boy in question turned around with a look of sudden surprise at the tap on the shoulder followed by his name being spoken. "Yes?"

"I need a hand with something and I was hoping you could help me with it for a few moments."

Midoriya's face continued to read confusion as Kaori finished her statement. "I mean, I'd be glad to help, but I'm not sure how much help I would be depending on the subject."

"I need a hand figuring out the best Hero to train my Quirk with from the list of drafts that I got."

"Oh." His face took on a slightly more serious look as he reached over towards his knapsack and pulled out a few worn looking books from within. "Well then in that case, let me see your list." As he reached over to grab the sheet of paper that Kaori started to pass to him, his eyes shone with a sudden realization that caused him to pause for a moment. "Hang on, what part of your Quirk did you want to focus on?"

"Using it to fight Villains as well as rescue civilians from a distance if I can't get to them quickly enough."

"I'll use that as a reference then when I compare the different Quirk's then."

"Don't you need the details on my Quirk though?"

"Oh, that won't be necessary, Kaori!" Uraraka chimed in from off to the side where she had stood silently watching the exchange. "Deku's been writing down stuff about our Quirks since before the Sports Festival. He probably already has a lot of the workings of your Quirk figured out by now."

Kaori turned to look at the boy with a mixture of shock and fear. "Wait, seriously?"

The sitting in front of her scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he finished putting all of the books and papers on his desk. "It's more of a hobby, really. It helps me keep track of all of the different Quirks that exist in the world whenever I come across a new one. Like how yours is a mutation on a Gigantification Quirk from your father and another Quirk from your mother that gives it the properties it has. I haven't seen a Quirk yet that would explain how you're able to project your enlarged body parts to another place, but it's likely some sort of Quirk based on mimicking the human body in some way."

Kaori could only blink with her jaw slack as Midoriya single-handedly managed to describe her mother's Quirk with very little deviation despite not knowing about it directly. It was obvious why he wouldn't know about it since it wasn't one that would likely ever be seen in the Hero Industry, but to discern that much simply from studying her own talents was…actually terrifyingly impressive.

"If anyone can figure out the best Quirk suited to training yours, Kaori, I'm sure that Deku can do it!" Uraraka's vote of confidence clearly had an effect on Midoriya as a shaky smile appeared on his face, however Kaori barely noticed that as she noted another thing that changed about Midoriya the moment Uraraka had voiced her praise of the boys particular…hobby. Namely, the blush that had graced his cheeks for a brief second before he turned and started to pour over the books and papers as he devolved in a continuous outpouring of mumbling.

Maybe it was Yori's own incessant flirting over the years that had trained her to it or just that brief second she had noticed his entire demeanor changed. But it was clear that there was something different about the relationship the two of them shared. But that wasn't her business. They were friends and classmates going to a school looking to be Pro Heroes in the future. What they did beyond that was their own business, not hers.

Now if only Bakugou would stop glaring back at them and yelling for them to be quieter.

* * *

Kaori took a deep breath as she stood in the train station waiting for the train that would take her to the agency she would be interning at for the next few days. The last week had practically been torture as Midoriya had narrowed down her over 200 names to a much more manageable list of 20-30 Heroes and agencies to do research on. He had stated that he wanted to be polite and leave the final choice to her instead, and tried to play it off as nothing special that he had eliminated over 75% of the list in less than one day. Kaori had been immensely grateful as he had handed back a much shorter list and left only to be stopped by All Might as he went to leave the classroom before the two went off to talk somewhere.

"Nervous?" Mina asked with a casual elbow to Kaori's side and a smirk, to which she replied with an elbow back of her own.

"And you aren't? These are some of the best Hero's in the business looking to try and teach us more about the business and improve us for the future. How could anyone NOT be nervous about that?"

"I dunno, I think I'd be more nervous about someone else here having to juggle going to U.A. with a girlfriend." The pink girl giggled as she used her other elbow to poke Kirishima in the side with an even wider grin.

"I already told her I wasn't interested, Ashido! Why do you have to keep poking at that?" Kirishima groaned in annoyance as her stepped away from Mina slightly.

"Because it's fun, that's why."

"Oh, leave him alone Mina." Kaori playfully swatted at the girl with a grin of her own from her amusement at seeing Kirishima trying to avoid being made fun of…again. It had been like this ever since the weekend when Kaori had introduced her friends from before U.A. to those she had made since going to the Hero School. "I already told you that Yori is a compulsive flirt given the ego she has from a Quirk that lets her read surface thoughts. She used to torment a LOT of the boys from junior high about it whenever she found out that they had crushes on her. She even said she knew that Kirishima wasn't actually interested when she had read his mind. She just likes messing with people."

"I've gotta be honest, the feeling of her poking into your brain like that still makes my skin crawl a little." Kirishima squirmed he shook his head slightly with a look of discomfort. "It's like a really small worm crawling through your brain or something."

"Eh, you get used to it after hanging out with her for a while." Kaori replied casually. "To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if she looked getting into a job as a counselor or something given how useful it is to learn the truth from someone when they try to lie or not speak at all."

"But wouldn't she need a Hero license or something to do that? I thought that using Quirks without a license was illegal?" Mina asked as she turned to face Kaori, likely now satisfied with tormenting Kirishima for that day.

"Other people can use their Quirks for work if they go through the right channels for it. My mom works all kinds of jobs on a visa due to how her Quirk works. Yori could get something like that if she wanted to use her Quirk without having to fight bad guys for it. She could even work as a private investigator or detective or something if she wanted to. It's not that uncommon."

"You know, you never did say what kind of Quirk your mom has, just that your dad had the typical Gigantification." Kirishima stated as he walked closer to the two of them, though his eyes occasionally wandered to Mina with a slight frown to which the girl replied with an exaggerated look of surrender. "How close was Midoriya's guess the other day."

"Almost exactly on the ball, in all honesty. It's genuinely freaky that he's so smart when it comes to Heroes and Quirks. I swear it's like a second Quirk aside from that Strengthening one he has." Kaori shivered slightly as she remembered how eerily accurate the boys guess had been as well as how much he knew about the Quirks of their classmates. "Anyways, my mom's Quirk lets her effectively duplicate the motions and skills of another person for a set amount of time after she watches them perform the actions. Take a martial artist for example. If she were to watch a martial arts tournament one day and then the next day suddenly be mugged by someone and needed to defend herself then she could recall in perfect detail the moves that she saw the previous day and use them on the person attacking her. Though she usually just uses it for different hands-on types of jobs that she can do after watching someone else perform the task she needs to work on. Sometimes it requires her just doing one thing numerous times which can leave her mentally drained from boredom, or duplicate a more complex set of tasks that leaves her drained because of the sheer amount of information she needs to keep a hold of to do the task. It's rare that she has a day of work where she isn't tired out from one thing or the other depending on the task."

"So the whole human mimicry thing was right then? Dang, Midoriya's good."

"Good thing he doesn't have an ego like Bakugou's or something, or it would have gone right to his head in an instant." Mina stated with a thumb gestured back towards the blonde in question, thankfully out of earshot to save them all from the verbal attacks that would have returned their way.

"Hey, cut the guy some slack." Kirishima casually shrugged his shoulders. "He's not so bad once you get to know him."

"Aside from his loud mouth and overinflated ego? What else is there besides the fact that he's waaay too quick to throw his Quirk around like a battering ram?" Kaori replied with a frown on her face as she glanced over at the boy in question for a brief moment.

"He just…has a different way of reacting to things. He's taking the Hero Course just like us and he's still human. He's not all bad."

"We're fine with you wanting to hang out with him, Kirishima, we can't force you not to. But it wouldn't hurt him to maybe temper his attitude a little and try to act nicer from time to time." Kaori stated as he gave Kirishima a look of concern.

"Just…give him a chance, okay?" Kirishima replied with a pleading look towards the two of them , though it was directed more at Kaori as Mina had at least worked with Bakugou once in the past and knew a little of how to handle him thanks to Kirishima.

Kaori sighed before giving the boy a nod. "I'll try."

* * *

"You're late." A calm voice stated from a nearby desk as Kaori walked into an office-type building following her train ride to where the agency she would be attending was.

"Sorry about that, I must have gotten the directions a little messed up when I put them into my phone to get here. I'm really sorry about that."

"It doesn't matter. She'll be waiting for you up on the third floor. Go there and she'll tell you what's expected while you're here for the next few days."

"Thank you." Kaori bowed in thanks before entering a nearby elevator and pressing a button for the third floor. As the doors started to close, she could barely make out a few final words from the person at the desk as they turned to face her for an instant.

"Just make sure you don't get turned into another of her so-called "weeping angels"."

"Wait, what?!"

* * *

Kaori felt incredibly nervous as the elevator dinged for the third floor and the metal doors slid open. As she walked into the room, she immediately noticed how open it was aside from a desk at the far end with a chair facing away from her and towards the windows looking out onto the street.

"Ex-excuse me, I'm here from U.A. about an internship? My name is Kaori Nomi and-"

"I know who you are." A feminine voice came from behind the chair as Kaori slowly approached the desk. "And I'm glad that you chose me as your mentor for the next little while. I hope my sidekick down at the front desk didn't bother you when you got here?"

"No, they were…fine." Kaori thought back to the final words that had been given to her as the elevator had closed in front of her. "They WERE being a little weird though."

"That's fair, given how I've handled some interns in the past. There's been a few girls in the past that have come in with...different expectations than what they end up encountering when they get here before leaving in a hurry." The light sound of rushing air filled the room for a moment following Kaori's words, much to her confusion. "For the record, I am sorry for this." Kaori's eyes widened in shock as the voice that had been speaking before came from directly behind her.

She barely began to turn around before she felt her body forcefully pressed into the ground in front of her. Both of her arms had been pinned in an instant in some sort of hold that Kaori wasn't familiar with, as well as a hand pressing her head towards the floor so that she couldn't look around or anything to use her Quirk. She tried to struggle for a few moments, but it was in vain as she was unable to move, giving up shortly after realizing that there was no way she would escape the hold. As her body went slack, she felt the weight that was pressed against her body suddenly disappear as she heard the sound of rushing wind once again, the chair over by the desk shaking slightly as she got to her feet.

"It looks like we've got a decent amount of training and practice to drill into you from your reaction time. Had I been a Villain you would have been dead in an instant."

"How was I supposed to fight back when I was attacked so suddenly?!" Kaori snapped as she brushed off her uniform. "I can't fight something I can't see especially when I can't use my Quirk unless I'm looking directly at something!"

"Therein lays your problem." The feminine voice stated calmly as the chair turned somewhat and a young looking woman got up from the seat and started to walk over to Kaori with a smirk on her face. "You're only looking with your eyes and not with the rest of your senses."

"…I don't think you get how sight works." Kaori deadpanned.

"Oh, I know how it works just fine. But by focusing on one sense at any given moment, you limit your reaction time."

"You aren't making any sense though, I just explained how my Quirk works."

"…They weren't kidding when I asked about you." The woman crossed her arms over her chest as she smirked at Kaori. "You really are your father's daughter."

Kaori's eyes widened in surprise once more as her arms went slack at her sides. "Y-you knew my dad?"

"Kinda hard not to. I WAS one of his teammates once upon a time. Or did he not tell you that?"

Kaori could only stare in shock with a slack jaw as the woman in front of her placed both hands on her hips and simply looked at the stunned girl in front of her with a grin. THIS woman had used to work alongside her father? How had she not known that? Why had no one told her ahead of time? Regardless, Kaori realized that she had likely been just as much lucky to be here as she was cursed when she walked into this building. After all, the last thing she had expected to hear was that she would be interning with someone that had worked alongside her father a long time ago.

Let alone the #7 Pro Hero: _The Everywhere Heroine: Blink_.

* * *

 **Surprise! The little bonus I had for everyone was another chapter ahead of schedule! To be honest, I had originally entertained doing both of these reveals in the same chapter, but there was no way it was going to be cohesive in any fashion. So instead I chose to release this chapter within a few days following the regular update to get this particular event out of the way and onto the internship themselves. Points to anyone that is able to discern the not-so-subtle reference I made towards the end of the chapter. I couldn't resist with the way their powers work.**

 **Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this little bonus and I'll see you all again in a couple of weeks for the actual internships and events that transpire during that time for Kaori.**


	18. Chapter 18

Kaori's breath came out in labored gasps as her chest heaved from overexertion. Sweat drenched her forehead as she slowly struggled her way up from the ground for what felt like the millionth time. Her entire body ached as she stood on shaky knees once more, her arms lightly raised in a fighting stance as she stood off against her hero mentor once more.

"Still want to give it another try, huh?" The woman standing across form her crossed her arms casually over her chest as she raised an eyebrow with a curious look on her face. "I figured by now you would have collapsed from exhaustion after how many times I hit you. This training IS supposed to last for the entire week after all. How much are you going to be able to learn when you're stiff and sore in a bed for most of that time?"

"The first lesson…to getting stronger…is pushing past your limits…over and over again…" Kaori huffed out, a determined feeling still burning in her chest as she swayed slightly in front of the Pro Hero. "That's what…my martial arts teacher…taught me…" One arm went up to her forehead to wipe away a trail of sweat as she fought to stay standing. "I learned that…the hard way…and nothing is….going to change that…"

"Whoever this teacher of yours is," her new mentor started with a smirk on her face, "I don't know whether to consider them a genius or a slave driver. Either way, you've got the mentality to keep bettering yourself down. But your execution still needs work. You still have yet to land a single hit on me after all and we've been at this for over half an hour. You still haven't figured out what I stated yesterday after you showed up in my office."

"The thing about…looking with more than my eyes?" Kaori panted as she tilted her head out of confusion. "Yeah…that still doesn't make any sense."

"Then we keep doing this until you figure it out. Even when we break for food or water, we come right back until you finally realize what I'm trying to say."

Kaori felt her body tense as the Pro disappeared with the telltale sound of rushing wind in a split second, her form already spinning to try and grasp at the body that was inevitably going for her weakest blind spot as had been done every time before. Mere seconds later, the results were the same as she lay on the ground gasping for breath after being struck in multiple places quicker than she could react as the Pro quickly pummeled her into submission.

"Still not getting it." The disapproving tone carried from the Pro as she stood near the girl with a sad look on her face.

Kaori could only pound one fist into the ground out of frustration.

* * *

"Still eating dirt, huh?" A cocky voice asked Kaori as she slowly settled into a chair at one of the tables in the meal area of the large building. "Figured you'd either have figured it out by now or run home crying about how tough she is like every other girl that's come in looking for her advice. You're either incredibly determined or incredibly stupid for letting yourself get punished like that."

"Give her a break, you ass. She's probably still exhausted after being tossed around by Blink for nearly two full hours." A second voice scolded as Kaori slowly ate the food on her plate to help replenish her strength and also give herself a break for her sore body parts.

"She may be a kid, but that doesn't mean you have to baby her like you try to for every other sorry sap that walks in here looking for advice from one of the best Heroes in Japan."

"Even so, that doesn't give you the right to taunt and belittle her when she's going up against someone that has years of experience on her. There's such a thing as going too far, you know. And you do it on a regular basis."

Kaori spared the two arguing sidekicks a passing glance as they turned their discussion from talking about her to arguing at each other, her presence just as quickly forgotten as it had been noted by the two. Her eyes turned back to face in front of her as she noticed a rather large man taking the seat directly across from her at the table.

"I see you've gotten to meet our infamous sidekick-duo." A surprisingly calm voice came from the massive man as he gestured with a smirk towards the two at the other end of the table. "You wouldn't believe it, but they've been partners for years. The loud and obnoxious Brick and his equally loud partner, Mold. Don't mistake their shouting for hating each other, it's just a way to keep things from getting boring around here."

Kaori's eyes widened in surprise as her head whipped back to give the man a disbelieving look. The motion proved to be too much at once as she winced in pain from the stiffness of her neck protesting the sudden movement without its prior approval.

"Careful there. Gotta take it easy for a little bit before you go back in the ring with our boss. She may be tough, but she means well."

"Sure she does…" Kaori mumbled as she poked at her food and tried to ignore the increasing volume coming from the other two. "I'm Kaori, by the way. Kaori Nomi."

"Jackson Mitchell." The man said as he reached out a hand to shake Kaori's with a firm grip. "I go by Bulkhead when we're working."

"Wait, you're American?" Kaori gave the man another surprised look as she knew that name wasn't Japanese by any means.

"Yup, born and raised. At least, for most of my childhood I was. My pop's actually from Japan and we moved here when I was getting to the end of junior high when they found better work out here instead of where I grew up. Ended up going to Hero School here in Japan instead of back in the US and wound up working for Blink when she was looking for sidekicks to induct into her business when she came back to Japan."

"Wait, came back?" Kaori wondered out loud, her hands clasped on her lap as she looked at Bulkhead expectantly, her food all but forgotten on her plate.

"About four years ago, give or take. She worked in Great Britain for a couple of years prior to that after she left Japan the first time. Something about needing to get away for a bit from everything that was going on and try to figure things out. I'm sure you've heard people talking about her "weeping angels", right?"

Kaori nodded slowly to avoid aggravating her neck again. "Yeah, I've been really confused about that for a while now. Is it supposed to be a reference to something?"

"I mentioned how she was in Britain for a bit, right. Yeah, they've got an old science fiction show with some kind of monsters that only move when you lose sight of them, like when you blink. Everything was going fine for a little while up until another Hero offered to work together with her after they helped rescue a bunch of people. Something caused her to snap and she just went off on the poor girl, leaving her in tears by the time she was done refusing to work with her. Ever since the term "weeping angel" was used to refer to someone she refused to work with or train. She stuck around in Britain for a little while after that incident, but the public opinion of her had dropped a LOT after that blowup that she ended up coming back home to Japan about a year later. Don't take it personally if she ends up rejecting you, too."

Kaori gave the man an uneasy look as he finished practically giving the full backstory to the Pro he worked for. "Are…are you sure that telling me all that was a good idea? What if you get in trouble for saying stuff like that?"

Bulkhead shrugged as he picked up his empty dishes and moved over to the sink area to clean up after himself. "If I get in trouble then I get in trouble. If anything it's something that anyone looking to work with her should hear so that they know what they're getting into. Why do you think that for someone ranked so highly she only has a handful of sidekicks?"

"Because a lot of them want to work for someone like Best Jeanist or Endeavor since they're ranked higher up?" Kaori asked.

The man shook his head with a sad smile. "It's because we're the only ones that convinced her it was worth it to have someone working with her. No one should have to work alone after all. Not even the best of the Pro Heroes."

"But what about someone like All Might?" Kaori blurted out without even meaning to.

Bulkhead put a hand to his chin for a moment as he paused to think about Kaori's question. "If I had to take a guess, I'd probably say that he doesn't have a sidekick because of the constant risk they'd be in. Being the Number 1 Hero ends up painting a target on your back bigger than anyone else, and someone as strong as All Might is probably able to focus more on doing as much as he can to fight crime and save people when he doesn't have a partner that he needs to watch out for."

Kaori looked back to her plate with a sad look as she thought about how lonely it must be for someone like All Might if they never had someone to work with. She couldn't possibly imagine having to face life on her own without people like the friends she had both from junior high as well as her time at U.A.

* * *

"Ready for round two?" Blink asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked at Kaori expectantly while the girl stood calmly on the other side of the practice ring. "Like I said, until you figure out what I've been trying to tell you, we're not going to be focusing on anything else."

Kaori felt her body tense for a moment in expectation of the pain that was inevitably coming once again. She nodded calmly as she took up a fighting stance opposite the woman casually standing in front of her. "I'm ready. And I'm not giving up."

A few minutes later, Kaori was once again brushing dirt and dust off of her Hero Costume as she caught her breath from being shoved into the ground once more. The familiar aches were beginning to return from their morning session as she struggled to her feet. Nothing was different about that morning, and unless she figured out what the Pro was trying to teach her or thought of something else then she would never figure out how to beat someone that seemed so calm and collected. The entire room was eerily quiet as she gave the room another quick scan to see if there was any way she could use the space to her advantage against someone that could be anywhere in an instant.

A lightbulb seemed to go off in her head as the pieces began to fall into place, as well as a thought back to something that she had heard earlier that day. She had no idea if it would work but she had to try, right? Anything different was better than the same result of getting shoved into the floor without being able to spot her assailant.

"Can I ask you something before we try again?" Kaori questioned the Pro as she relaxed her stance. The Hero hesitated for a moment with a confused look before giving the young girl a silent nod. "What made you decide to leave Japan a few years ago?"

Blink was silent for a few moments before responding to Kaori's question. "That really isn't something you need to know right now, young lady. We're here to train you to become part of the next generation of Heroes, not figure out each other's life stories. If that's what you're here for, then you can walk out that door right now and consider this mentoring concluded for the week."

"Then what about that Hero you rejected while you were overseas in Europe? Why would you turn down someone's assistance?"

"Because they chose to do the same thing you are doing right now. They chose to try and become my "friend" by constantly asking why I left my home. They didn't need to know and yet they insisted on badgering me with the same question as time went on."

"But that's not a bad thing! Everyone needs a friends or a partner to watch their back and keep them on the right path!" Kaori pushed as she put a hand to her chest with a pleading look on her face. "You can't expect me to believe that someone ranked as highly as you got to where you are on your own!"

"Well surprise, surprise! That's exactly what I did!"

"But what about the sidekicks you hired?!" Kaori snapped back. "They aren't just tools to you, no one's that selfish!"

The composure that Blink carried suddenly snapped as she disappeared in a flash, but this time Kaori was prepared. She had seen the woman's chest begin to move faster as she had pushed with her questions. Instead of turning to try and grab at something that was inevitably going to hit her blind spot, she focused on the silence around her. The faint sound of rushing wind disturbed the silence somewhat, but that wasn't what she was searching for. Just as she feared that she had screwed up in the instant she had before she was inevitable hit by Blink, she heard the barely traceable sound of someone breathing heavily just behind her to her left, her body jerking in response to avoid the oncoming hit. Her head turned to face the spot she had heard the sound from to witness the bewildered look on Blink's face, one of her hands quickly reaching out to tap against the woman's body even as she twisted around the fist that had just narrowly missed her.

Her hand never met the woman's side unfortunately as Blink disappeared once again and Kaori was shoved to ground roughly from a second attack from directly behind her as Blink moved into her blind spot once again. Her side ached as the woman had swung again with her other fist and landed it squarely just below her ribcage. Tears stung her eyes as she nearly cried out from the far more vicious attack landed its mark.

"So…you finally figured it out." Blink spoke with a hint of anger still filling her voice. "I guess I gave you too little credit."

"So you're saying we're moving onto the next part of training, then?" Kaori winced as she slowly got to her feet with a forced smile on her face.

"Did I say that just now?" The woman spoke coldly to Kaori as she felt the smile melt off of her face and into a look of concern. "You figured out what I meant by looking with more than your eyes. Congratulations. Now get out of my Hero Office. We're done here." The woman then disappeared in an instant from the room, leaving Kaori by herself and a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Had she gone too far?

* * *

 **Hello again to all of my beautiful readers. I hope you've all been enjoying the story so far, since we're about to get into some pretty serious exposition and backstory for some characters as well as get progressively closer to some of my favorite parts of the series. For those curious about some of the abilities of the sidekicks I introduced this chapter as well as more info on the Pro I inserted into the story, have no fear since I WILL be showing off a bit of what they can do in the coming chapters as well as elaborate on other thnigs that they will be important for.**


	19. Chapter 19

Kaori stared at her hero costume with a sad expression for a few moments before carefully packing it back into its unique storage to take back to school. She really had screwed up by poking at the buttons she should have known better than to push. Now her chances at being a Pro like her father were going up in smoke, only this time it was because she had pushed too hard rather than shying away from the entire thing. Apparently life didn't know how to ruin her dreams in half measures. Her head turned ever so slightly at the sound of the door to her room opening, but not enough to see who it was that had entered. It really didn't matter in the end, after all.

"I'm just finishing packing my things. I'll be out of your hair shortly, no need to rush me." Kaori said with a defeated tone as she finished retrieving a pair of exercise clothes from a nearby closet and stuffed them into the suitcase as well.

"She really up and canned you, huh?" A more masculine voice than she had been expecting sounded from behind her. Apparently Blink was so done with her she wasn't even the one checking to make sure she had left yet. Instead she had either sent Bulkhead or he had chosen on his own to see her off.

"Yep." Kaori stated plainly without turning around. "I was an idiot and asked about something I shouldn't have. And now my chances at being a Hero are pretty much screwed." Her shoulders sank as she closed the suitcase on the final piece of clothing as things finally sank in. Tears welled up in her eyes as her voice cracked from the emotions now threatening to spill forth. "I guess that's just how my life is. Every time I get close to something I'm aiming for, it gets ripped out from underneath me and leaves me cold and afraid." Kaori nearly yelped in shock as she felt a strong hand spin her around before a large, but gentle pair of arms wrap around her in a warm hug.

"Now you listen here, kid." Bulkhead's voice rang in her ear as his tone went from his casual tone she was already familiar with to a more focused and strong tone that reminded her of Maki. "You can't let things like that get you down. I can guarantee that no matter what happens from here that you WILL be able to reach your dream of being a Hero. Maybe it isn't today, maybe it isn't in the next few years, but you have a fire inside of you that I wish some of the other Heroes and Sidekicks I've met would have. You say that life has beaten you around and tossed you aside, but I say that it's made you stronger for it."

"…Maybe one day I'll believe that. But I don't think I can after what's happened today." Kaori pulled away from the hug with a smile that didn't reach her eyes as she gave the man a thankful nod. "But thanks anyways, Bulk. I hope I'll get to see you guys again someday."

"…Me too, kid. Me too." Bulkhead gave Kaori a single nod as he turned to leave the room with a sad look on his face. Kaori watched in silence before she turned back to pick up her suitcase and walked out of the room and towards the entrance to the building. So focused on trying not to openly cry as she left, she barely registered the sound of someone yelling as they punched a solid object somewhere behind her. Her mind simply passed it off as someone getting worked up inn exercise routine, something she was more than familiar with back at Maki's dojo.

However, she was so caught up with trying to sort out where her life would now be going...that she didn't realize that the noise had come from the entirely opposite direction of the training rooms.

* * *

Kaori walked in silence towards the train station as she tried to figure out how she was going to break the news to her mother. Then her mind began to wander to what others might think of her situation. What of her mentor, Maki, who had taken her in to try and train her once again even after what had happened years ago? What about the friends she had made at U.A. and all of the moments they had shared together? It may not have been very long in the grand scheme of things, but after fighting actual Villains and thugs as well as competing with the others, Kaori felt like she was truly close to the people she had met since arriving at the prestigious school. Would she even really see any of them anymore? Or was that another thing she was doomed to lose after everything else that had happened?

On the bright side, at least she hadn't lost any of them because they had died. That was a small grace in some way.

"Where do you think you're going with that sad look on your face?" A voice Kaori hadn't expected to hear came from off to her side. Her head whirled to face a figure she hadn't expected to see so soon on her way back home. The #6 Hero gave her a look with one eyebrow raised before slowly walking towards the girl as she stood frozen to the spot in surprise. "I know I said to get out of my office, but I never said where you were supposed to go. So I'll ask again since your tongue seems to have stopped working. Where do you think you're going?"

"I…I'm going home. I thought we were done?" Kaori stammered out, her brain trying to reorient itself as it had been severely derailed at the sight of the Pro standing here.

"There you go, jumping to conclusions again. I said we were done and I wanted you out of my Hero Office. I never said that we were done with your internship." Blink stated matter-of-factly like it was common knowledge. Kaori's mouth flapped for a few moments before she felt a feeling she had never felt this strongly before.

Rage.

"YOU BITCH!" Kaori yelled out as she marched towards the Pro whilst simultaneously gripping the handle of her suitcase even harder. "I came to you asking for help in trying to get better at being a Hero! Imagine my surprise when I find out you used to work with my dad before he died! I actually looked up to you for a little bit because of that! Then you make it sound like I'm kicked out on the second day just because I asked a pushed a few buttons you didn't like being nudged! How can you call yourself a Hero after all of that!"

Blink simply stood and stared at the girl as she stood seething in front of her. It was taking everything in her power not to swing her suitcase like a weapon at the Pro, knowing that assaulting someone like that would get her in serious trouble both with the authorities as well as Aizawa back at U.A. for using school property in such a careless way. But she was just…so…MAD. Here was this woman that was ranked as one of the best Heroes in Japan, and she was just acting like this was some sort of little thing!

Then Blink began to slowly clap, once again throwing Kaori's train of thought careening into the abyss in a heartbeat.

"…There's that fire I knew you had in you. I knew that despite how much like your mother you look, there had to be something of your father in you for you to want to be a Hero." Blink stated with a small smile before stepping forward and firmly resting a hand on Kaori's shoulder. "You might want to brace yourself, this is always awkward for first timers."

"Wait, wh-"

Then everything around Kaori shifted in a flash of white.

* * *

"-at do you mean?"

Kaori's senses clashed as she felt herself land on solid ground a moment later after feeling like floating as she fell to her knees with the taste of bile strong in her mouth. Her stomach heaved as the lunch only a couple of hours ago was forcefully expelled from her body and onto the concrete beneath her.

"Egh, didn't think you'd be one of the ones that loses it when I do that. Guess that's one thing you definitely didn't get from either of your parents."

Kaori gave the woman a sick look of disdain, not feeling sorry or even feeling altogether pleasant thoughts about the woman following their…confrontation back where they had previously been. Speaking of which…where had she even taken the two of them?

"Where are we?" Kaori weakly asked as she stumbled to her feet and avoided coming into direct contact with her own sick.

"I can't imagine you'd likely recognize the place." Blink replied as she looked around the neighborhood she had transported the two of them to. "It's changed a bit since you were last here, after all. I'm only able to come here because I choose to come back every once in a while to remember what the place looks like now in case I ever want to visit for the sake of old memories."

"I don't understand, what are you talking about?" The younger girl continued to look around with a confused expression as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"This was the street you used to grow up on, Kaori. Even you should be able to remember that much after everything's that happened."

Kaori's eyes widened as she looked around and took in the sight of the street she had used to grow up on. No longer were the roads torn up and destroyed with vehicles thrown about like she could remember. No buildings half-demolished with fire and debris lying about. Only a peaceful street with people minding their own business as they walked to and fro. A few turned their heads and gave the two of them light nods to which Blink would always respond with a nod of her own and a gentle smile on her face. It wasn't until an older lady began to walk up to them and wrapped her arms gently around Kaori that she was able to snap back to her immediate proximity rather than the street and houses around her.

"It's good to see you here again, young lady." The woman spoke slowly as she stepped away to give Blink a hug as well. "It's good to see you here as well, Nozomi. I understand that you're busy being a big Hero and all, but I appreciate you taking the time to visit every once in a while."

"It's good to see you too, Ayeka. I see that memory of yours is still sharp as ever."

"Thank heavens I was born with a memory Quirk. No old age is ruining my memory, thank goodness."

Kaori shook her head slightly to shake off the oddness of the situation before she began to speak. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound rude but…who are you?"

The old lady burst out laughing as she turned to face Kaori with a knowing look in her eye. "Oh, forgive me. I forgot that it's been some time since you last lived on this street. It's understandable of course, given what happened. There are days that I wish I COULD forget despite my Perfect Memory Quirk. But we have to have the bad with the good."

"So…you were there the night that…my dad died?" Kaori asked with a weaker voice as she had momentarily forgotten that other people would have had to be there that night even as she witnessed her father's own murder.

The older lady, Ayeka, nodded slowly before turning to face the street along with the other two. "I'm one of the only people that willingly came back after what happened. Most of the people that lived here at that time chose to not come back to what had been the site of a major attack, believing that it was possible that it could happen again. I knew better, though. After what happened that night, the person responsible wasn't going to be coming back."

Kaori turned to face the woman out of confusion. "What do you mean? How could you tell they weren't coming back?"

Blink was the one to speak up this time, though it was with a hardened edge to her tone as she spoke. "Because they were here with only one purpose in mind. To kill your father or die trying."

"But that's what I don't get." Kaori replied as she turned to face the Pro. "That's what everyone else made it seem like whenever it was brought up when I was younger. Why were they targeting my dad? He wasn't one of the Top 10 at the time, so why was he the one singled out?"

"Wait…" Blink turned to look at Kaori with a look of shock before turning to look at Ayeka for a moment as she too gave Kaori a surprised look. "You mean you really don't know?"

"Know what?! No one ever talked about it and whenever I asked my mom she said it wasn't something I needed to know!" Kaori was beginning to grow increasingly exasperated at the vagueness of the conversation that she was only marginally a part of despite being a major focus of it simultaneously.

"…Hannei, you fool…" The older lady muttered under her breath as Blink gently placed a hand on each of Kaori's shoulders.

"Kaori…the man that killed your father…he worked with your father and I before he betrayed us. I thought you knew."

"No, I…I didn't…I never…" Kaori's mind reeled as she stumbled backwards and fell to her rear as she tripped over part of the curb. "No one ever told me…A Hero killed him…but I don't…why did no one tell me?!" Her voice screeched out as she stared at the two woman pleadingly, hoping for some sort of answer.

"I figured that my now your mother would have already told you, especially what with you wanting to be a Hero since you were just a little one." Ayeka chimed in as the two woman stood awkwardly in front of Kaori's shocked form. "But it seems like she didn't, likely out of fear or concern for you."

Kaori struggled to calm herself down as she tried to puzzle it out amidst her other wild thoughts while simultaneously getting to her feet and brushing off any dirt that had ended up on her clothing from her tumble. "I...didn't always want to be a Hero…not after dad died." Kaori began as Ayeka gave her a surprised look. "After dad died…I was too scared of the risk Heroes put themselves in. So I gave up. I stopped wanting to be a Hero because I was too scared of losing my own life despite the fact that I could have the power to protect so many people like my dad. But then I was there when a Villain was attacking a boy that was the same age as me. He was trying to free himself using his Quirk, but it was making it impossible for the Heroes on the scene to jump in and save him given the damage his Quirk was doing to the area. Then another boy ran in without any concern for himself and risked everything to try and free the first boy even though he didn't realistically stand a chance. The only reason they both survived was because All Might showed up and saved the two of them before it was too late. But it was that drive to save someone no matter what that reminded me of something dad used to always say when I was younger. A mantra he swore by to keep himself humble, I remember him saying."

"It doesn't matter who you are or what you're capable of. If you see someone in danger you should do everything you can to help them, no matter what anyone says. A Hero is made by what they choose to do, not by what they're capable of." Blink stated as she gave Kaori a proud smile.

"There was also something about it not mattering about Quirks, but that was pretty much it." Kaori stated as she gave the woman a look filled with awe at the near perfect recollection from someone she barely knew once again.

"Probably something your father added in for using himself. The rest of it was something we came up with as a group when we were all starting out. Sort of our call-to-arms in a way." Her face took on a more serious expression as the moment passed, however. "You're still sure about doing this, even knowing what you know about your father's death?"

"I won't lie, knowing that someone that's supposed to protect people was responsible for killing the man I looked up to the most has me terrified. But I can't let that stop me from keeping people safe." Kaori put on a strong face to hide the fears and worries she had inside. "I'll have questions to ask my mom when I see her again, but that's not important right now. I'm still in the middle of an internship for the rest of the week after all and I've barely learned anything I can actually make use of."

Blink nodded in acknowledgement before she turned to give Ayeka a light bow and simple farewell before Kaori did the same. Then the Pro planted one hand firmly on her shoulder once again before the two disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared in front of the Hero Office that Kaori had walked out of not long ago. This time she only stumbled slightly when they appeared, not throwing up or falling over immediately.

The extra knowledge surrounding her father's murder was still fresh in her mind, and trying to figure it out would keep her awake for long periods of time for days to come. But what mattered was that she was still training to be a Hero and she was determined to see that through, both for her father's sake, and for the sake of the conviction that she knew that she and her classmates shared when it came to their path in life.

And she wasn't going to let anything stop her.

* * *

 **More secrets of the past come to light! Don't worry, there will still be some stuff surrounding the internships after this, I'm not just using it as an exposition dump. The characters I've introduced have more purpose than just "random character made for sake of history". They actually have jobs to do and we will see that in action next time. But until then, you'll just have to wait.**


	20. Chapter 20

"…You're going to make me want to retire early, you damned ass." Bulkhead stated bluntly as he pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "I know you're the one in charge of this place, but I swear I'm going to lose my mind with you pulling crap like this."

"I gave her the choice, Bulk." Blink replied with crossed arms as she stared down the larger man. "I have my methods, just like any other Hero in the business. If you don't like it, then do something about it."

"I just wish you could ease up sometimes. For someone in the Top 10, I don't get why you have so few sidekicks when we keep getting applicants."

"Because I look for very specific qualities when I hire people on." The woman responded without batting an eye. "And so far, only you and the twins have come close."

Bulkhead sighed as he turned to leave the office, though he stopped at the door and turned back for a moment to give a few parting words. "You know, I still wonder why you chose those two at the very least. Do you just like listening to them argue or something?"

"Considering how good they are in the field and how they keep their bickering down when we're working I can handle them causing a storm here rather than when we're trying to protect people."

"Whatever you say, boss. I'll be in the gym if you need me." With those words uttered, the man exited the room and strode away down the hall towards a different part of the building.

"…Umm, not to be rude or anything…" Kaori started as she awkwardly stood off to the side of the room. "But should I really have been allowed to hear any of that?"

Blink shook her head with a small smile as she straightened a few papers on the desk in front of her. "Bulk means well. Given his older age and still choosing to work in the Hero Business as a sidekick he always wants to look out for the others. His experience and skills are something I always appreciate. Even if we do disagree from time to time."

Kaori looked at the door thoughtfully a question on her mind at some of the things Blink had just stated. "Speaking of which, is he really that old? He looks like he's barely in his thirties."

"His Quirk always did give him an upper hand in a lot of the stuff that he did back when he was a fully-fledged Pro. Having a Quirk that makes you near indestructible made it so that he never really had to worry about bodily harm to himself. All he had to do was make sure he kept in shape and constant practice so that the integrity of his Quirk would barely weaken as he grew older."

"Because a Quirk is like another muscle, right?" Kaori asked with a tilt of her head.

"Exactly. Even if we keep up our body's fitness, it doesn't mean a thing if we don't keep our Quirks well exercised as well. That's something I wanted us to attempt to work on today, after all." Blink turned with a glint in her eyes as Kaori felt a sudden bead of sweat roll down her back. Suddenly, she was nervous about being in the same room as the Pro even though she had done it twice that day already.

"But not until tomorrow." Kaori felt her body unconsciously relax at that admission. "After all, with everything that's happened today, we still need to get out and patrol a little bit. I do have other parts of my job to fulfill after all. Make sure to put on your Hero costume before we go out, though. Can't exactly have you patrol with us in your street clothes."

* * *

"Hey guys, look over there! It's Blink! She's even got a new sidekick!"

"No it's not, you idiot. It's one of the kids from the Sports Festival. She must just be tagging along with Blink for some stuff with U.A."

"Damn, that's a shame. I was hoping we'd get to see someone new around here for once and actually stick around. She's a cute one."

"You are such a perv, you jackass."

Kaori felt her head turn back and forth while fighting a small blush every now and then as she and Blink strode throughout the streets, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. As they had gone, numerous people had pointed out both the Pro and herself, many people recognizing her from the Sports Festival. Though by now she was beginning to get somewhat used to the constant attention, she never said she liked it.

"You know that this is just another part of being a Hero, right?" Blink commented idly, obviously having noticed Kaori's dislike of all of the focus they were getting. "You may not like it, but being a one of the Pros also comes with a lot of public opinion and appraisal."

"But that's what I don't get. Bulkhead commented on the whole thing with your "Weeping Angels" and how people often left your office in tears. Why would the public act so positive towards you despite that?"

"Because the rumors about that are overblown and only used for a specific group of fans and wannabes that get too pushy. It's not actually that many people that have that happen to them." The woman responded plainly as though it were no big deal. "I tell them how it is and that they're looking for things in the wrong way. They take it poorly and end up leaving in a mess. I haven't actually blown up at anyone since that incident in Europe a few years back just before I returned to Japan. It was only over there that the name actually carried more of a negative tone to it anyways."

"I guess." Kaori responded as her eyes travelled to the ground in front of them as she thought to herself for a few moments. "But I remember my dad made the media and public leave us alone whenever he was at home and off-duty. How would he manage something like that if the Heroes are constantly being scrutinized?"

"Because your father never gave a damn about being one of the Top Heroes, just about being a Hero in general. So he wasn't afraid to mouth off to pushy paparazzi and nosy members of the public if he thought they were butting in where they didn't need to be. Because of that, he was never focused on as much and the media were all too happy to let him have his way if it meant getting snapped at less."

"Dad was like that? Really?" Kaori gave Blink a look of disbelief as they continued to move on.

"About as stubborn as someone could get really. He just knew when to focus on the matter at hand and do his work before chewing someone out. Frankly, it was only after he and your mother got hooked up that he started to calm down a bit. He would still get up in the press' face but not to the same extent. Though anytime they started to question about his personal life and his family, that same fire came back and they quickly learned to leave you and your mother alone unless they wanted to have them come knocking at their office doors."

"I…didn't know that…" Kaori replied with a startled look as she learned a little more about her father that she never would have likely learned otherwise. It would have never been something to come up around her mother, so to be able to speak with someone that had actually worked with him allowed her to get a deeper look into the man she admired so much up to this point.

"I just wish that he hadn't gone like he did." Blink continued on as they walked. "It just wasn't right."

Kaori felt a lump form in her throat as Blink commented on that tragic day years ago. "What…what exactly was the fight about? Do you know?"

"Too much, if you ask me. But I think we should stop and find a more private place to talk about it if we're going to keep going. Besides, I'm starting to get a little hungry."

* * *

After a short search, the two of them found a diner that overlooked the street so that Blink could still keep an eye on things as the two talked in a somewhat secluded booth closer to the front of the building.

The woman shook her head sadly as she began. "I was busy doing some solo work the evening it all happened. Our group had started to fragment a little around that time over a stupid argument. The third Hero in our group was getting to aggressive with the Villains and thugs we were stopping, and was even resorting to torture in some cases to get answers to things we were trying to figure out." Blink stopped as she turned to Kaori and rested a hand on her shoulder. "You have to realize, this was still before the Golden Age of Peace that Heroes like All Might made for everyone, even if didn't take too much longer for it to happen. Villains were much more aggressive and more abundant then and it was getting to everyone. Your father and I tried to reason with him, but he just wouldn't listen and he kept resorting to more violent methods. I guess that night was when he had chosen to finally confront your father about it and try to convince him to join his side."

"But what side was that?" Kaori asked with a worried voice. "You said that he was still fighting the Villain's, right?"

"I did, but there's a reason that titles like Vigilante have a negative status. It's people working outside of the rules and taking justice into their own hands that cause almost as many problems as Villains. Sometimes a Villain gets shutdown and properly apprehended, but too many times innocent people get caught in the crossfire or a Villain is let go because all the person wanted was an answer and not to actually put the criminal behind bars. It just causes more problems than it's worth.

"…Why did you not mention his name at all, though?" Kaori commented as she pointed out something odd about Blink's tale.

"The day I utter either that man's name or his "Title" will be when I know that he's faced justice for what he did. That's the other problem with what happened that night, after all."

Kaori felt a pit open in her stomach as she began to understand the meaning of the words Blink had just stated. "You mean…they never caught him?"

"No. And they never chose to publish anything in the papers either. With everything on as thin ice as it was with Villains still hanging about, we didn't need the knowledge that a Hero had gone rogue to bolster them at all. So the entire situation had been covered up and the attack had been stated to be by a Villain that happened to be in the neighborhood before your father stepped in and injured him enough to cause him to flee. The truth is…your father never even scratched him. He only left because his only target WAS your father. After that, he just…disappeared."

"But…how could you know all of this?"

"Because," Blink started as she stared Kaori directly in the eyes. "Later that night, he found me and questioned me in the same way he did your father. The only reason he didn't manage to kill me as well was because I could teleport away the moment he attacked me or tried to hold me down with his Quirk. Your father didn't have that same advantage. It was why the three of us balanced out so well. Despite my movement-based powers, your father's sheer size could overpower me in an instant. Our partner's Telekinetic abilities allowed him to easily hold off your father despite that. And I could easily match his Telekinesis because anytime he tried it on me I would just move somewhere else in an instant. It kept us from ever trying to take charge over the other because we always had a balance."

"…But it all changed when you stopped working together." Kaori realized as her eyes fell to the tabletop.

"Exactly. He knew that without us working together that confronting one person would be easier. If he had gone to me first then I would have been able to teleport to your family and warn you about him. His title always did have a secondary meaning when it came to his approach to things after all, besides his Quirk being the obvious comparison."

"But you still won't tell me his name or the Title he used?" Kaori pleaded as she gave Blink a look.

"It wouldn't matter. Like I said, he went deep into hiding after what happened and abandoned everything that had to do with his Hero life. The public statement was that he had gone into sudden retirement to deal with the loss of his comrade even if it wasn't the actual truth. It took a LOT of work to make sure that the whole situation was covered up."

"But what if someone finds that information and leaks it? Wouldn't that look bad for the Heroes?"

"Not as much now as if it had happened back then." Blink admitted with a furrowing of her brows. "Nowadays, aside from the League of Villains attacking U.A. earlier in the school year, things have been relatively peaceful so the public outcry wouldn't be as dramatic. People may not like it, but the reaction wouldn't be nearly as bad. Either way, the information was locked away with some of the biggest secrets in the industry in the hopes that it would never see the light of day. It would take a ridiculous amount of work to reveal that information to the public at this point."

It was at that moment that the communication device on Blink's hip went off and the woman's hand snapped over to pluck it from her belt.

"What is it?"

"We've got a hostage situation at a bank a few streets east of your route. A female voice sounded through the radio, meaning that it was one of the twins currently calling in. "Bulk's using his Quirk to act as a block for the front door to keep them inside, but we don't know how long it'll be before they start hurting civilians. They only gave us demands without any sort of timeframe. Probably figured that without specifying a deadline that the police would be more likely to give in to their demands."

"What about you and Brick? Where are you in relation to the hostages?"

"We tried to sneak in by making an opening in one of the side walls to rescue the hostages from the rear, but they had people stationed in multiple places to keep an eye on all angles and adjoining rooms to the main lobby. We had to retreat and close up the hole to prevent them from having another way out away from Bulk and the majority of the police force."

"Got it, we'll be there in a moment."

"This sounds like it happens a little TOO often." Kaori commented as she and Blink got up from their table as the woman laid a few bills on the surface to cover their meal.

"Not as often as you would think, but banks are one of the more common targets for criminals looking for a payoff. Bigger risk, but if my guess is right this is going to be a group that we've dealt with before. Not many usually have a counter to Brick and Mold trying a sneak-in unless we've done it to them in the past. And most of those groups are in prison at the moment. All of them except for one that was just recently let out for "good behavior" a few weeks ago. They were probably stockpiling resources up to today." Blink turned over to face Kaori with a smirk even as she rested a hand firmly on her shoulder.

"It's too bad they don't know about our extra pairs of hands that we've got today."

Kaori felt her body tense as the words Blink spoke set in. This was about to be her first real test acting as a Hero for innocent people. The training she had taken, the classes she'd been given at U.A., all of it was now about to be put to the test. She nodded with a determined look as she felt the older woman's hand grasp her shoulder and the familiar sensation of being pulled through the air in a flash of light. This was it.

…Little did she know, the stakes would be much higher than she could have anticipated.

* * *

 **And there we have it. A little more exposition on both Kaori's father and the people he worked with as well as a little more world-building. Next chapter will definitely be more action-oriented given what they're about to walk into.**

 **On an unrelated note, the main reason this chapter was delayed to the time it was released was because of some...unfortunate news I received while I was at work yesterday. My grandmother recently fell and hit her head doing significant trauma and my family just chose to disconnect her fluids and meds to let her pass. That news killed any original plan to top this off with any revisions before posting it due to my trying to process things and figure out my reaction to it all. Going forward there is a strong chance that I may have to impose a weeks delay on my stories sometime in the near future since they want me to travel across the country for the funeral (whenever they happen to decide on when it is).**

 **Frankly...I'm at a loss. While a part of me wants to find a sadistic irony in the fact that I've lost family in the past and used those experiences to define some of my characters, I never anticipated something like happening in the middle of writing two separate stories where that has occurred in someone's past. I also want to be furious because this was someone I knew that was hardly deserving of something like that.**

 **Regardless, it is what it is, no matter how much I dislike it. It may drag down my disposition for a little while, but I need to forge on. Honor their memory as I go about my life rather than obsess over it. That's all there is to it.**


	21. Chapter 21

The moment Kaori and Blink appeared outside the building, the older woman immediately set to work as she sought out her sidekicks. After looking about for a few moments they both spotted the twins standing with the police and quickly walked over.

"Alright, how many are there this time?"

Mold was the one to respond as she glanced over at the sound of her boss' voice. "Looks like its Razorback and four of his old crew. Turns out you were right about them just pretending to behave for the sake of being let out sooner. Not really a surprise to any of us, though."

"I kept warning those idiots at the centre that they needed to put their foot down more whenever people like these guys start acting nice." Blink scoffed with a shake of her head and frown on her face. "I know that Villain's aren't as common as they used to be, but they can't just ignore the fact that these guys have murdered innocents just because they claim that they've learned their mistakes."

Brick spoke up from next to his sister while the police all stood watch to the doors of the building where Bulkhead currently stood motionless. "You might want to go discuss that with them, then. Based on some of the stuff we heard while we had our back door open, it doesn't sound like it's all of them at fault." The man moved closer to whisper in Blink's ear, though they were close enough for Mold and Kaori to overhear as well. "It sounds like there's some sort of payoff going on higher up in the chain of command. They get out and break into a few places, then share some of the money anonymously with the chief that signed off the papers to let them out."

"That's…not a good thing." Blink muttered as she glanced over to her last team member standing at the doors. "What about Bulk? How's he holding up?"

"About as well as you'd expect." Mold responded with a smirk. "They've got guns, but they don't do jack-shit against his Quirk. Especially not since he had Brick and I shrink the doorframe to fit around him."

"Good. That leaves any chance of them escaping out of the question. We know that the police have both the entrance and exit covered, so now it's just a matter of getting the civilians out safely." Blink closed her eyes in thought for a moment before turning to Kaori with a sad expression. "Look, Kaori, I know I made it sound like we might have you help us today, but it looks like everything is already covered up to the point of going in on my own to finish up. I promise though, the next time something comes up I'll find some way for you to help."

"That's fine." Kaori answered with a shake of her head. "You're the professionals after all. I'd just be likely to get in the way."

"Good girl. Stay with the twins. They'll keep you company while I clean this up."

In a flash of light, the woman teleported to just behind Bulk, where she gave the man a few words as the others watched in silence.

"Wanna see her do her thing?"

Kaori looked at the woman with a confused look. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Security feed. The cops tapped into it to keep an eye on the hostages in case anything should happen. These guys may have broken into banks before, but they're not pro enough to scope out every camera before doing their thing. It's what got them caught last time. Not that they know that. We just made them think that Blink is able to be in that many places at once to keep tabs on things."

"And they bought it?" Kaori asked with a surprised look on her face.

"Hook, line, and sinker." Brick chuckled. "Shows how smart they are. It'll be over in a flash."

* * *

The three of them stood around a terminal that the police had set up near the back of their blockade, a viewing screen set on a table in front of them as they saw Blink materialize inside the main lobby. The moment she did, the criminals all immediately turned their guns on her before the man that was likely their leader raised a hand to calm them down. A voice then came through from an audio feed also sent from the security system.

"Put your guns back on the hostages you idiots." A rough voice commanded as three of the men on screen turned their weapons back onto the civilians. "I've got our friend here."

"You sound confident for someone out of options, Razor. You don't exactly have any sort of advantage here. You know what happened last time." Blink replied as she casually crossed both arms over her chest. "Save yourself the trouble and turn yourselves in. It'll be less painful that way."

"And go back to squatting in that dump again? Pass." The man retorted as one of his hands extended into claws. "Nah, I think I'll just take the money we came here for and be on our way."

"Is that where the last one is then? Still grabbing money from the vault while the four of you keep an eye on things out here?"

"Not quite, but you'll find out what he's up to real soon."

"I'm sure I will. But it'll be after I knock the four of you out, first." Blink frowned before disappearing in a blast of light. The leader stumbled due to be the closest to the flash, while his three accomplices all winced at the sudden glare their eyes were subjected to. In that same moment, Blink reappeared behind one of the three armed crooks and delivered a powerful jab to his jugular, the man's body going limp and collapsing to the ground in an instant. His body hadn't even hit the ground before she moved again and swung a leg out to trip up one of the other thugs and tip his body back towards a nearby countertop. The last armed criminal barely had any warning before Blink appeared in front of him and socked him directly in the face with a clenched fist.

Merely seconds ago, there had been three people wielding guns at the hostages and their leader standing confidently in the centre of the room. Now there stood one man still clearing his eyes and recovering his vision while his three comrades all lay slumped on the ground in various states of wear. The first one had frankly been lucky since the knockouts the other two received were…slightly more wince-inducing.

Strangely enough however, the remaining man didn't seem exactly upset over what had just happened. In fact, from the expression on his face…he had almost expected it. Suddenly, his clawed hand returned to its normal state before he raised both of them and began to calmly clap them together.

"Just as fast as I remember." Razor commented with a smirk as he turned to face the woman standing over his lackeys. "You really don't fail to impress as the #6 Hero, huh Blink?"

"Save the chatter, Razor. You've lost." Blink snapped as she began marching towards the man. This only seemed to please him further as his smirk grew.

"Have I, though? You said yourself that you knew I came in with four other people. Maybe next time you should do a little more than just ask where they are and focus on me."

In that instant, Kaori felt her blood run cold as the last member of the group came into view from around the side of cubicle that the camera was unable to see past. Before the two standing in the centre of the lobby was a taller woman with one hand planted squarely on the tops of two people's heads.

Kaori's friends, Yori and Chiyoko.

* * *

"Hey, kid, you alright?" Kaori faintly heard Brick's voice coming from off to her side, though it seemed muffled as she tried to react to what she just saw.

"Those two…they're my friends…" Kaori mumbled as the twins gave each other concerned looks. It was bad enough that the Villain had somehow gotten the upper hand on Blink despite her mobility, but to have those in harm's way be two of the closest friends she had.

She NEEDED to do something. NOW.

She felt her body begin to turn towards the building even as a firm pair of hands gripped her shoulders and stopped her from moving. Her head turned back as she came face to face with Mold, a stern look on her face as she stared Kaori in the eye.

"Listen, I know you want to help them. But you can't just run in there. Anything you do could be playing right into the Villain's hands. They knew that Blink would be more focused on the people she could see rather than the ones that stayed hidden. But we have to let this play out. We can't afford jeopardizing the rescue by rushing in."

"THOSE ARE MY FRIENDS!" Kaori suddenly snapped as shouted at the woman trying to reason with her. "And they're being used as bargaining chips by Villains that want to make a quick buck! You can't seriously expect me to just stand by and let that happen!"

"We have to. Everything from this point is up to Blink."

Kaori glanced over towards the screen as the Villain known as Razor began to talk again.

* * *

"Surprised? I had to keep some sort of contingency in case these idiots weren't able to put you down. What better way than keeping our best weapon hidden and have her keep a few hostages for herself?"

"Let them go, you monster." Blink seethed through clenched teeth as she glanced back and forth between Razor and the other criminal. "They're just a couple of girls."

"And we're supposed to care about that…because?" The woman spoke up as she kept a tight grip on the girl's heads. "We just want the money and to be on our way. It's up to you whether or not these girls get hurt in the process. Honestly? It'd be you hurting them if you don't work with us."

"I thought your gang was full of fools before, Razor." Blink stated as she clenched her fists tight. "But now I see the truth. You're nothing but scum."

"Why thank you, Blink. I think that's the strongest reaction we've gotten out of you to date. What do you say, Dema? Should we finish this?"

The woman smirked as her hands began to light up atop both of the girls heads. "Sounds good to me. What do you say we give her…45 seconds?"

"Ooooh, a timer?" Razor replied with a look of sinister glee. "Suspenseful and exciting, I like it." His expression hardened into a look of murder as he nodded. "Do it."

"You know how her Quirk works, don't you Blink?" Razor sked the Pro. "Dema here can detonate any object as long as she keeps a grip on it. The longer she charges it, the stronger the explosion. If she no longer is able to touch something with her hands, she detonates the air around her instead even though it poses her no harm. So that effectively gives you two options. You can let her kill the two girls and then take us out, but also risk the safety of the people in this building depending on the damage she does to the structure, or you pry her grip off of the girls and sacrifice yourself in the process. Your choice…Oh, and based on how long I've been talking you probably have…about 10 seconds to decide."

The teleporting Hero's eyes widened as she turned to face Dema, her body disappearing in a flash of light as she reappeared directly in front of the woman and pulled both hands off of the girls' heads. With a determined look she then reached out to teleport herself and about to explode woman out of the building…when her body stumbled in pain as long, pointed claws descended into her abdomen and stopped her in her path. Her eyes moved up to the woman smiling evilly in front of her as her hands began to glow a flaming red.

And then one of the buildings windows exploded.

* * *

"She doesn't have much time, we have to help her!" Kaori yelled at the two sidekicks as they looked fearfully at the screen alongside her.

"There is nothing we can do!" Mold practically screeched back as they witnessed the dialogue that the three of them were currently having. "None of our Quirks can stop something like that!"

Kaori's mind suddenly flashed back to that fateful day in the alley where she had witnessed Bakugo being held hostage by the Sludge Villain. Very similar words had been spoken by one of the Hero's on the scene that day as they had been forced to wait for someone to appear that could stop the rampage until Midoriya had charged in and tried to free his classmate. Back then, she had been too afraid to act.

But not this time.

With a sudden spin on her heel, Kaori began to sprint for the building, her training at U.A. kicking in as she weaved back and forth through the various police and vehicles as though they were merely obstacles on her path. Her focus was on one of the windows just adjacent to the entrance where she knew there was no getting past Bulkhead. So she needed to make her own entrance. She could only pray that the windows weren't reinforced enough to stop her from barging in.

Just as she neared the building after sliding between two police officers, she manifested a fist the size of a minivan before swinging her arm in the direction of the window. The sound of shattering glass filled the air even as Kaori felt a series of tickles run across her hand due to the shards brushing up against her projection. Thankfully the hand was large enough that the small shards would barely mean anything due to the size difference.

As she leapt through her new entrance, she couldn't help but notice in the split second that she had that Blink was standing with a slight hunch as the man named Razor seemed to have one of his clawed hands deep in Blink's abdomen while the woman with the explosive touch stood over her with a triumphant look. To Kaori though, the only thing that mattered was the woman's hands as she reached out with her Quirk once again and created an enlarged hand roughly the size of a desk and gripped them tightly around the glowing red hands that the woman had reached out towards Blink. The moment she felt her hand wrap around them, her eyes clenched shut in preparation for the pain she was likely about to experience.

There was no way to prepare herself for this, however. The moment the woman's Quirk went off, it's properties came into full effect. Due to the amount of time she had charged it, the explosive power that it sent through Kaori's projection shattered it in an instant. The backlash was hardly something she was ready for. The instant her Quirk shattered, a piercing scream left her throat as she felt numerous bones in her hand crack as the various nerves lit up like a Christmas tree. She had experienced what happened whenever the integrity of her Quirk had been compromised…but never to this degree.

What it did prevent however, was the deaths of various innocent people as everyone else in the room stared in surprise at what had just happened.

In that same instant, Blink pulled herself away from Razor's claws before kicking Dema in the gut and teleporting in a flash behind her to deliver a punch to the back of her head, the whiplash from her body suddenly moving in two directions at once as well as the sudden onset of pain knocking her flat out in an instant. She was about to move to go after Razor, but in the moments she spent striking down his accomplice, he had managed to poise his claws next to Kaori's neck even as she knelt cradling her now broken hand in front of her.

"Game over, Blink. Even if I don't get away with the money…at least I get to take the life of your new partner here. Consider it a trade for the fact that you were supposed to be the one to d-" His words were immediately silenced as a rock hard fist collided with the side of his skull, sending him flying into the wall just next to the hallway that went towards the vault. His body sagged to the ground, unconscious from the impact of both the man's Quirk-enhanced fist as well as the wall when his head had hit it.

"I don't think so." Bulkhead snarled as he moved to stand protectively in front of the injured girl. "You're not laying a finger on her. Not after what she just did."

Kaori turned her head ever so slightly so that she was facing Bulk's back, despite the tears falling en masse from her eyes making it hard to tell if it was actually him or someone else. For a moment, she thought she saw the shape of her father's back, just like the night she had seen him face off against his former teammate. But she barely had time to process that even as she heard a pair of voices shouting and dragging her attention away from the man standing guard over her.

"Kaori!" The familiar voices of Yori and Chi filled her mind with relief as she realized that they were now safe and unharmed. Her eyes registered the two girls suddenly kneeling in front of her, though her mind was slightly preoccupied with the sheer pain she was in from what she had just gone through.

"Well of course you're going to be in pain after that, you idiot!" Yori snapped even as Kaori saw tears fall from her eyes as well. "What were you thinking?!"

"I couldn't…let the two of you…get hurt…" Kaori managed to say even as the pain in her hand continued to assault her brain.

"So you got yourself hurt in the process? What kind of logic is that?"

"It saved your lives, didn't it?" Blink's voice registered in Kaori's brain as she turned to face the Hero that had moved to stand nearby. One of her hands seemed to be gripping the front of her abdomen as a few drops of blood could be seen leaking between her fingers. "In fact…she just saved all of us." Kaori then felt her body being hoisted by a pair of large hands, her head turning to see Bulkhead gently cradling her in his arms, a look of pride mixed with concern etched across his face. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I need to get both of us to the nearest hospital. If you want to see her that badly, my sidekicks outside can show you the way."

And with that, the three of them disappeared in a flash of light as Blink laid a hand on Bulk's arm as well as Kaori's shoulder, quickly followed by darkness as the pain finally managed to force Kaori into unconsciousness with the adrenaline that had been coursing through her before having run it's course.

* * *

 **First off, moving is a pain in the ass. That is why this chapter is just a *tiny* bit delayed getting released as I never had the time before today to really do a quick revision and post. It's seriously a straining ordeal, both mentally and physically getting everything sorted out. As it stands though, I have been looking forward to this chapter for some time now as it shows how everything that's happened in the last while has allowed Kaori to grow and be able to do something she wouldn't have been able to do before. Of course, it doesn't mean everything is perfect. Consequences of actions and all that, plus...well obviously there are still other things to come and more obstacles to face. I just hope you all can bear with my rambling until then. For now however, I hope you all enjoy your days ahead - and for those in the US reading this, enjoy your Fourth of July tomorrow! For my fellow Canadians, Happy Belated Canada Day! (which amusingly is also my birthday)**


	22. Chapter 22

Amber eyes glared up in defiance at a boy who stood slightly taller, a smirk etched on his face as he cracked his knuckles menacingly. Stood beside him were four other boys, all simply watching with grins of their own as the closest boy opened his mouth.

"What are you trying to prove, pipsqueak? Trying to play hero while your daddy's away?"

The young girl continued to stand in front of the boys despite her being outnumbered. While many would be worried in a situation like this, her eyes were filled with a fire and determination that would not be quelled.

"I told you to stop picking on them. Just because your Quirk's are strong doesn't mean you get to bully other people who don't have a Quirk for fighting."

The boy sneered. "It's not bullying. It's showing who's better. People that get Quirks like theirs end up doing boring jobs anyways. Not like the Pros that get to beat up bad guys every day. We're just proving why we're better. Besides, who are you to talk when you don't even have a Quirk?"

"A Quirk isn't what makes someone better!" The girl shouted back, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "It's the person that uses it!"

"…Are you serious? What did you get that from, some cheap comic?"

"It's what my dad tells me every day! And he's a REAL Hero! He'd show you jerks in an instant!"

"Well…he ain't here right now. And you're still in the way. So I'm just going to beat the same lesson into you that I was going to those other weaklings."

The young girl glanced behind her to look at the very people the boy was referring to. Two girls stood fearfully holding onto each other, a few bruises lining the arms of one girl who was standing almost protectively in front of the other. Both of them were silent as they watched the scene unfolding in front of them.

"I won't let you hurt them anymore." The young girl stated with a strong voice as she turned back to the group of boys.

"And how do you plan on stopping me? Gonna swing your fists and try to do something to prove why you're better?" The boy's voice dripped with sarcasm as he parroted back some of the words the girl had previously spoken.

"…" The girl was silent for a moment before she started running at the older boy, her arms flailing wildly and without abandon as she sought to hit the boy anywhere she could. Her eyes were scrunched tight in concentration as she focused purely on trying to hit something as she sprinted forwards.

"Oooooh, she's a fiery one, isn't she boys?" The boy commented to his nearby group as he sidestepped the girl's uncoordinated assault. "Should we let her land one to make her feel better?" The group of boys all nodded knowingly as their leader turned back to face the girl that had turned around for another pass. "Well, you heard 'em. You get one freebie before I teach you your lesson."

The girl opened her eyes in confusion for a moment before she ran at the boy again with her eyes tight once more. As she neared the boy, one of her fists swung out and collided with his abdomen…only for his torso to stretch backwards almost comically for a moment before snapping back and slamming painfully back into the girls hand with a loud smacking noise.

The girl stumbled back and fell to her rear with a pained look on her face as she clutched her injured hand to her chest. The boy stood menacingly over her as he moved closer. No longer was his face that of someone joking around. Now, his eyes seemed to glint in the shadows formed from his downturned face as he glared at the girl on the ground.

"I gave you the chance to walk away. I gave you the opportunity to just ignore what was happening here. But no. You had to play Hero just like your lame-ass dad who doesn't have a power near as cool as some of the other Pros out there. What can he do, grow? He doesn't have an elemental Quirk or something that he actually has to be clever with using. He just makes himself bigger so that he can punch harder. What's so cool about that?"

"It's still cooler than being made of rubber." The girl spat out as she glared up the boy towering over her.

"Oh, you think growing is cooler? Let me show you where you're wrong." The boy swung one of his arms back as it started to stretch into the air for a few seconds. In the next instant, the stretching stopped and the boy brought his arm back fist first as it sailed at the girl with more momentum than an average punch could have. A sickening crunch echoed through the air as his fist collided with the girls face, knocking her onto her back before it returned to its normal position.

"And THAT is why your father's Quirk is lame. I can reach things far away without having to make myself obnoxiously big and still punch someone better than the average person. My Quirk is better suited for different situations than just growing. Now stay there or run away, I don't care." The boy turned to face the two girls standing off to the side once more. "Just stay out of my way from now on."

"…No."

The boy turned back with a surprised look as the girl slowly pulled herself to her feet. An ugly bruise covered one side of her face as she spat out a tooth that had been dislodged by the boy's fist.

"Wait, you're ACTUALLY still trying to stop me?!" The boy stated with a look of genuine surprise for a moment before it grew bored again. "You really are hopeless, you know that? YOU DON'T HAVE A QUIRK! How do you plan to stop me without any powers?!"

"As long as I'm still standing I won't let you lay a finger on them."

The boy gave her a calculating look before another smirk found its way to his face. "Really? Even when I can reach them faster than you can?"

The girls eyes widened in realization as the boy wound up a fist before swinging it towards the two girls, his Quirk activating once again as his arm stretched to allow a longer reach. In her eagerness to try to hit him, she had allowed a fatal error into her plan - she had taken herself out of the boys path. And now they were about to reap the consequences of her actions.

"Get out of there!" The girl yelled as she ran towards the two girls with one hand outstretched despite her chances being nonexistent. "Run! He can't catch you if you keep moving!"

In that instant, a strange thing began to happen. As the girl ran towards the two figures huddled next to each other, a tingling sensation began to crawl all across her body, and her vision seemed…almost brighter for a second. Then, before anyone knew what was going on, a purple hand barely the size of a soccer ball appeared in front of the boys fist, stopping it in its path towards the two other girls.

Everyone stared in shock at what had just happened, from the boys that had started everything to the girls standing off by themselves. But no one was more surprised than the lone girl as she stared at the floating hand in shock before glancing over towards her own glowing hand. A sudden understanding passed over her as she looked back to the purple hand protecting the two girls before she turned back to the boy that had hurt her and the other girl.

"…That's how I'll stop you."

The boy's face contorted into a look of rage as his eyes wheeled to face her. "You little brat! You just couldn't leave it alone, could you! Now I'll REALLY teach you a lesson!"

In that following moment, the boy's first punch retracted back to his body as his other arms lanced out, this time for the girl that had dared to stand in his way. The girl tried to move the hand she had somehow made to block his attack once again, but realized with a look of fright that in the time she had looked away from it…the hand had disappeared and her own hand was back to the way it was before. In the final moment before the fist collided with her face and turned her whole world black, a loud male voice shouted in the distance.

"Kaori!"

* * *

Kaori woke with a shock in a slightly uncomfortable bed with an ache in her hand. Ironically, it was the same hand as the one she saw glowing in her dream…though it was better to call it a memory, as that was what it had happened to be. Her eyes trailed through the pristine white hospital room she appeared to be sitting in, a light breeze coming in from a nearby open window. No one else seemed to be in the room at the moment, so she decided that she should see just how bad it was. After all, she could still remember the searing pain that had been lancing from her hand after muffling an explosion single-handedly. Literally.

As her eyes moved down to her side, they came to spot the ugly casing covering her entire hand. As it was she was unable to even twitch the extremity. Whether that was due to the cast or the damage it had sustained in the backlash of her Quirk, it was hard to say. Thankfully, it had been her non-dominant hand and she would still be able to write and such when she went back to U.A. in a few days following the end of her internship. The only question that seemed to remain was…what would she do for the remaining time with a broken hand?

Her mind quickly snapped back to her surroundings as the sound of a turning door handle filled the quiet room. The door to her space opened as two faces she wasn't expecting to see so soon walked into the room with some packages of food on-hand. That was quickly followed by some of the packages of food falling to the floor as one of the two suddenly let go of them and ran over to her.

"You're awake!" Yori's voice shouted out as she wrapped her arms tightly around Kaori's torso, the white-haired girl so caught off guard she was barely able to process what was happening as she felt Chi's arms wrapping around her from the other side of the bed moments later. The feeling of both of her friends wrapping their arms around her and showing that they were safe gave Kaori a powerful feeing of relief as she relaxed into their arms.

That moment didn't last long as Yori's body suddenly pushed Kaori's cast into her side from how tightly she was holding onto her. The gasp of pain that ensued from her throat caused both of the standing girls to jerk back from her body with looks of worry before glancing over to her wrapped body part. A stern look came over Chi's face as Yori sheepishly returned an apologetic look to the girl before she turned back and smacked Kaori on the shoulder.

"I can't believe you went and got yourself hurt defending us…again!" Yori chided Kaori as the girl awkwardly reached over to rub her shoulder without putting weight on her broken hand accidentally.

"To be fair, that was like 10 years ago." Kaori responded with a small smirk even as she winced at Chi's stern look turning on her due to her comment.

"Yeah, well…try not to get hurt being a Hero next time, huh?" Yori replied s she rested a hand gently on Kaori's arm just above the cast. "We'd like to not see our friend in bandages and casts every time they play protector."

"No promises." Kaori looked past the girls towards the door to her room. "Where're the others?"

"You mean the Pro you're interning with and her sidekicks? They were just down the hall talking to each other when we came back with some food…that I dropped on the floor. Whoops."

"Not ALL of it, thankfully." Chi commented from Kaori's other side as she turned to show that she had set her food calmly on a small table in the room before she had walked over to hug Kaori as well. "But now we'll have to share our food a bit."

"I wouldn't worry about that too much." A voice came from the doorway as all three girls turned to face the newest entrant to the room, Blink…and apparently her sidekicks. All with ominously serious expressions on their faces. "I can go grab some more food in a few moments once I'm done talking to Kaori here. I just need a few moments, okay girls?" Her mouth started to move even as the girls moved to interject. "Don't worry, she won't be going anywhere. You have my word."

The two girls acquiesced as they walked out of the room, though not without parting smiles to Kaori as they left.

"…They seem like good friends." Blink commented as Kaori turned to face the woman. "I can see why you wanted to save them so badly. On that note, we need to discuss your actions when you came bursting through that window."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I couldn't just stand there and let you and the girls get hurt like that, let alone all the other people in that building when they threatene-"

"Thank you."

Kaori's brain fizzled for a moment as she was cut off not by reprimanding words but instead a proud look and smiling face. "What?"

"Thank you." Blink repeated as she moved over to gently place a hand on Kaori's shoulder. "What you did that day saved countless lives, myself included. If you ask me, you've already proven yourself as a Hero, no matter how old you are."

Kaori felt her mouth move as she struggled to find the words to reply to Blink's statement. Instead, a warm feeling filled her eyes as tears of unbridled joy streamed down her face and onto her lap.

"But that's not all we needed to discuss with you today. There's also some bad news I wanted to fill you in on before you go back to your school in a couple of days."

Kaori looked to Blink with a confused expression even as a few stray tears still leaked from her eyes. "Wait…a couple days? I thought we were only on our third day though?"

"We were." Bulkhead spoke up from nearby. "When the hostage rescue happened. You've been out for two days on the mend due to the medicine they gave you to help your recovery along."

"Two days?!" Kaori exclaimed. "How?!"

"One of the doctors here has a Quirk that allows them to work with different herbs and plants to craft medicines for different cases. They made you a potent remedy that helped your body's natural healing process along to escalate the healing in her hand, though it wasn't able to fully heal the damage that had been done to an entire handful of bones all fracturing and breaking at the same time. You'll still want to go to Recovery Girl at your school when you get back to heal any remaining damage to normal. This way it's not all at once when you go to see her."

"I guess that was the bad news, huh? My hand is still broken for the rest of the internship?"

"I wish that were the case." Blink replied with a frown. "No, the bad news is this."

A newspaper was tossed into her lap by Brick as he nodded towards the front page that as facing her. In bold letters the words read HERO KILLER APPREHENDED. PRO HERO INGENIUM RETIRED DUE TO INJURIES.

"Someone named the Hero Killer got arrested? What's bad about that?" Kaori gave the others in the room a confused look.

"It's not the Hero Killer that you need to worry about. It's the other part of the headline you should be concerned with."

"Ingenium? I have no idea who that is. I'm not exactly up to date on current Hero stuff to be honest."

"Ingenium was his Hero name. His full name is Tensei Iida. He's the older brother to one of your classmates. I thought you should be aware of this before you got back to school in a few days and heard about it there from your other classmates or the news."

Kaori felt a chill wash over her as she shakily looked back to the paper and skimmed over to a part that talked about Ingenium as well as including a picture of him in his Hero costume. It was obvious who it was that Iida had modelled himself after when she saw the man's robotic looking suit.

"He's not…dead is he?" Kaori asked as she gave the others a worried look.

"No. Thankfully. For whatever reason the Hero Killer simply paralyzed him rather than killing him outright like he has his other victims. But he still won't be able to ever work as a Hero again."

"…Damn it." Kaori whispered as a few fresh tears leaked from her eyes as the newspaper crinkled in her grip. "I was hoping no one I knew from school would ever have to go through the pain that I did when I lost my dad. I can only imagine the pain Iida must be going through right now."

"That's why I wanted to let you know ahead of time. You can sympathize with him, but this way you'll have time to collect your thoughts before you speak with him instead of scrambling for something if you heard about it right at school."

"…Thank you for telling me." Kaori stated with a sullen tone.

"For now, I'll let you keep resting and let the other girls back in so you can speak with them some more. I'm sure you'd appreciate the chance to catch up."

As the group started to leave the room, Kaori looked over to them as she called out. "Blink."

The older woman turned to face Kaori with a straight face. "What is it? And for the record, when we're in private Nozomi is fine. You've more than earned the right to call me by name."

Kaori felt a smile grow on her face even as the tears stopped falling. "I just wanted to say…thank you. For giving me the chance to learn from you…but also for telling me about my dad. It's…not a topic my mom and I do well getting into."

Blink's expression more motherly as Kaori spoke. "You deserved to know, even if some of it may have been hard to hear. And for the record? If your father were here I'm sure he would be incredibly proud. I know your mother is. She gave me a call the moment she heard about what happened on the news. She would have come barging over here had I not convinced her that everything was handled and she could afford to wait until you got back."

"Either way, I'm glad I decided to work with you."

"Me too, kid. Me too."

* * *

 **And here's the followup to the last chapter and also tying into events going on whilst everyone else is off doing their own thing in their internships. I had to think of some way to avoid direct involvement with the night of the attack in Hosu, and what better way than recovery time for the damage Kaori sustained in the bank heist? I know that it might be kind of lazy, but her being aware of Midoriya's message sent to his classmates likely would have resulted in her informing Blink of the events taking place and needing to be there. This way, between the injuries sustained and everything that just happened, no one would interfere from Kaori's place of work.**

 **On a note of that, the reason locations have sounded vague lately is because...I have zero knowledge of the overall layout of Japan and its districts/wards/towns. I was tempted to try and figure something out for where Kaori would be exactly within the country...but it really didn't matter in the end. Regardless, I hope that these last few chapters have been good in terms of further development/backstory as well as showing where things still have room to progress. Reading the occasional review where people comment on both the way scenes have played out as well as the general flow of the story has been nothing short of gratifying. Nothing worries me more than if I'm doing something wrong or making a mistake in the way a scene is supposed to play out. So thank you SO MUCH to everyone that has commented on this story so far. Your words mean a lot.**


	23. Chapter 23

The rest of the week passed by rather uneventfully, mainly due to the remainders of Kaori's injuries following the bank incident. A broken arm made it difficult to practice fighting after all. But that didn't mean that her week was boring by any means. Her focus was hitched on every word Blink spoke as she described more of what it was like to be a Hero.

Due to the relative peace that had been brought about by All Might's presence in the previous years, some of those entering the Hero ranks were simply doing it for fame or fortune, not truly caring about the wellbeing of the public in some situations. Thankfully, those ranked higher up in the profession were those that did at least care about protecting people. Blink then proceeded to warn Kaori about what a group like the League of Villains could mean if they were able to gain any more traction following the series of recent events they had been a part of.

Kaori, as well as the rest of her classmates, would have to be vigilant in the days ahead, and prepare themselves for any sort of situation if they were already being dragged into things. But for now, that wasn't the most prominent thing on the young girl's mind.

After all, she had a few questions for her mother now that she was home from her week with Blink.

* * *

Her body was almost immediately held firmly in caring arms as her mother grabbed onto her tightly mere moments after walking through the door. Apparently when Blink had said that she had convinced her mother that she was okay, it hadn't been quite enough until she could see her again.

"Mom, I'm fine." Kaori mumbled as she gently patted her mother's back.

"I know, sweetheart. But when I heard about what happened on the news and got the phone call from Nozomi I couldn't help but worry. She said your injuries were minimal, but she didn't say that you had broken your hand!" Her mother leaned back from her as she planted her hands into Kaori's shoulders, a stern look now etched across her face. "What were you thinking?!"

"I was doing exactly what I promised I would do." Kaori replied with a determined look. "I was saving people's lives. Otherwise Blink, Chi, Yori, and so many other people would have been hurt or killed because of some jerk with a grudge."

"Honey, I never said what you did was wrong. But I can't help but worry about you when you act so much like your father sometimes. The number of times he came home with scratches and injuries terrified me some days. He rarely considered his own health when something came up, and on some of his worse fights he would come back with so many bandages and wrappings that I worried he would just fall apart one day from his wounds."

Kaori looked down towards the floor for a moment as she thought about what her mother said. Her chest heaved with a deep sigh before she faced her mother once more, albeit with a firm look in her eyes as well.

"Speaking of dad…why didn't you tell me the whole truth about why he died?"

Her mother backpedaled for a moment, a stunned expression on her face as a hand rose to cover her gaping mouth. "How…how did you find out?" A dawning of realization passed over her before her eyebrows narrowed. "…That woman. She has no respect for privacy, I swear."

"I had every right to know about why it happened!" Kaori shouted, her mother flinching from the volume her voice carried as she snapped back to their current situation. "But you hid the truth from me and simply said that it was a random Villain that dad had put away in the past that had somehow gotten out and come after him! Not that he used to be his PARTNER!"

"It was for your own protection!" Her mother snapped back, her face twisting into one of anger as she continued to react to her daughter's outburst.

"My protection?!" Kaori spluttered with an exasperated tone. "He turns on dad and then proceeds to disappear, and you think it's better that I DON'T know that somewhere out there is the man responsible for killing one of the most important people in my life?!"

"If you knew about his existence, then you might look for him to try and bring justice for your father!" Her mother practically screeched. Kaori fell silent as her arms fell to her sides, a betrayed look now formed as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Do you really think that little of me?" She asked with a barely audible voice. "Do you really think that I would actively go out and do something so dangerous against someone that I wouldn't stand a chance against?"

Her mother stepped towards her with one hand outstretched, a guilty look on her face. "Kaori, I didn't mean that. I-"

"No, mom. You did." Kaori walked past her mother and towards her room without a second thought, her mother standing there stunned as she stopped in the doorframe. "But you should have known…I was terrified of Heroes and Quirks for a while after what happened to dad. Why do you think I would go anywhere near the person responsible for his death when I couldn't even lift a finger against someone my own age?"

She then surrounded herself in darkness as she stepped into her room and closed the door behind her, her body falling back to prop itself against the wooden door as she slid down to her rear. Her knees bent as she cradled her legs close to her chest and held onto herself as comfortably as possible with the cast on one hand as the tears fell freely once more.

It had hurt to lose her father. It had hurt to find out that he had been betrayed by someone he considered a partner. It had hurt when her hand had shattered protecting her friends earlier that week. But none of it compared at the moment to the hurt she felt that her mother had made the choice to hide the truth from her for so long because she had thought she knew her daughter well enough. As it turned out…neither of them knew as much about each other as they thought. And that was what truly pierced deep. For a moment, she thought she heard a muffled noise coming from outside her room towards the entrance…but she didn't care.

Right now, she just wanted to be alone.

* * *

The next morning, both of them were silent as Kaori finished eating her breakfast before heading back to U.A. a little early to visit Recovery Girl. Once or twice, she thought she saw her mother reach out to her before stopping herself, but she played it off as a trick of the light as she finished and shuffled into her shoes and picked up her bag. She paused for a moment at the door, waiting to see if her mother would say anything. But all she got was silence as she turned the knob and walked outdoors to head to the train station.

The train ride itself was uneventful save for some people trying to get her attention as they recognized her from the media coverage of the bank incident days ago. But she just ignored them with a frown on her face as she stood silent amidst the passengers. A few of the people trying to get her attention called her rude for doing such a thing, or rude for not respecting her peers, but she didn't care. None of them had just had to go through everything that she had in the last week.

Hopefully none of them would, either.

As her footsteps carried her through the halls of U.A. once again, she couldn't help but notice just how much emptier the place was when it classes weren't about to begin. But that thought didn't last long as she finally arrived at Recovery Girl's door before knocking lightly. A moment later, she was greeted to the sight of a small elderly woman who took a mere glance at her before motioning back into the larger room behind her.

"You kids are getting yourselves into too much trouble nowadays, I swear." Recovery Girl grumbled as she gestured for Kaori to sit down on one of the nearby chairs. "First I hear about some of you getting caught up in that Hero Killer fiasco in Hosu, then I get a call from one of the other Pros saying that her intern got injured saving a bank full of people and that the doctors at the nearby hospital wouldn't be able to entirely heal the damage."

Kaori was silent as she felt Recovery Girls lips press against her arm just above the cast, her Quirk quickly acting to correct the bones and joints before she stepped away from Kaori.

"Now, I never said what you did was wrong. But you young ones need to have a better sense of self-preservation if you want to be able to keep helping people in the future. Otherwise you'll run yourselves into the curb doing everything possible. Your lives are more important than you realize."

"…Yes ma'am." Kaori replied as she extended her hand for Recovery Girl to remove the cast with a small saw meant to cut through things like casts. She flexed her hand a few times to test its strength, still feeling a slight lingering soreness in the muscles – likely a result of her hand being completely immobile for the last few days.

As her classmates gradually filed into the room before school started that day, the banter she had missed for the last few days reached her ears once more. Only, this time she didn't really feel like joining in. She was thankful that others had eventful times during their own internships as it would be a better chance that people wouldn't ask about hers.

But that desire didn't last.

"…What about those of us that REALLY got into some crazy stuff this last week, what about them?"

Kaori felt a few pairs of eyes turn to her even as other focused on Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida as they had all encountered the Hero Killer nights before. One pair of eyes that turned to her was a pair that she really didn't want asking her questions right now. Kaori felt her own gaze pause on Iida for a few brief seconds as she remembered the newspaper headline she had read only a few days earlier. Would anything she said help though? Yes, she had lost her father to a Villain when she was younger, but what could she say to someone that the wound was still fresh? Judging by Iida's proclamation about striving to be a better Hero, SOMETHING had happened when they had come face-to-face with the Villain.

It was probably for the best that she didn't say anything, at least not right at this moment.

"How WAS your week, Kaori?" Mina asked with a cheerful smile on her face as she walked over. For a moment, Kaori thought it odd that Kirishima wasn't there as well, but a cursory to him currently being assaulted by Bakugo proved why that was.

"It was…alright." Kaori stated plainly as she glanced towards the pinkette. "Nothing special."

"Pfft, yeah right." Mina scoffed playfully. "I heard all about how you saved a bunch of people's lives in some sort of bank heist like what Jiro did."

"Yeah, but that was about it."

"No…it wasn't, was it?" Mina's cheerful tone dropped as she moved closer and knelt next to her with a worried look on her face. "Something else happened while you were gone. What was it?"

"...I don't want to talk about it." Kaori replied after a moment before turning to look out the window with a frown.

"Are you sure?" Her friend asked from beside her.

"…Yeah. There are too many people here right now. I'd rather talk to just you and Kirishima about it later if that's okay."

"…Okay. But I'm holding you to that."

"Don't worry, Mina. I won't go running off."

The next words went unspoken, but for Kaori she felt as thought she had said them loud and clear for the world to notice. " _I'm tired of running, anyways._ "

* * *

 **Well I definitely managed to trip myself up just a tiny bit this week. I wrote this chapter earlier in the week, but I guess during that time in between writing it and posting it, I forgot which story it was exactly that this week was updating. That was definitely a first. Otherwise, nothing much to comment on for this chapter. A little more exposition to set the stage for the next run of milestones and major events - something I know at least a few of you are likely looking forward to. For now, we just needed to see a little bit of the consequences of the things that were discovered and faced during the internship. And obviously it does set another hurdle for the story to cross down the road.**


	24. Chapter 24

Later that same day, everyone was gathered in Playing Ground Gamma for their class with All Might as their first lesson with him following their internships kicked in. When it was announced that they would all be competing in waves to see who could use their Quirk's and other natural talents to reach him first, countless guesses as to who would be most effective began to be aired. Of the first group – comprised of Midoriya, Iida, Mina, Sero, and Ojiro – most of everyone's opinions seemed to think that anyone aside from Midoriya had an equal chance of winning given the layout of the obstacle course they would be moving around.

Jaws practically fell to the floor as Midoriya sailed out of the gate much like the others, his Quirk being utilized in a whole new way that seemed to not destroy his body the moment it was used. Unfortunately, that same speed ended up costing him as his footing failed on a narrowed piece of metal, with Sero eventually pulling up the win as everyone raced for the finish line.

Of course, there were still others to go yet, and even with some of the powerhouses in their classes there were still quite a few strong contenders in terms of who could use their Quirk in the most effective manner.

* * *

Kaori took a deep, calming breath as she stood at one of the starting points around the training ground. Her muscles were tense as she awaited the sounding alarm that would let them know they could start. Of her classmates, she was about to go up against Shoji, Uraraka, Tsuyu…and least desired of all, Bakugo.

Of course, it wasn't that she wasn't concerned about the competition her other classmates posed. Shoji's Dupli-arm would likely function as a highly effective method of swinging around, though not as effectively as Sero had in the previous race. Uraraka could just float herself up to the higher points of the area and use her Quirk to easily hop on top of things without the risk of falling. Tsuyu had her Frog Quirk, which went without saying that this race was practically designed for her given the elasticity in her tongue and her ability to climb straight surfaces.

But Bakugo proved a far greater challenge. It was no question, that if any of the people in their class was to be designated one of the most talented, that Bakugo would be one of the first names stated. Aside from his prickly attitude, his Quirk had been shown to be HIGHLY effective at allowing him to not only pulverize his opponents but to also allow him to move around at a rapid pace. Kaori couldn't help but flashback to when he had used his Howitzer Impact against Todoroki back in the final round of the Sports Festival Tournament. Not only had it been a deadly sight to witness, but it was clear that the level of control he had over his Quirk was well above that of most of their class.

If she wanted to stand a chance at winning this race, then she would need to put everything she had practiced and considered with her Quirk into execution.

As the horn sounded, her eyes immediately lit up with the telltale glow of her Quirk, as did both of her hands as she started to move forwards. She didn't get far however, before firmly pushing off the ground with both feet as a pair of purple hands with the combined size of a small car materialized just below and in front of her. Her feet landed squarely on each projection just as her own hands swiftly swiped upwards with the projected hands following the same motion as her body was rapidly flung skyward.

As soon as she broke the layer of metal pipes and structures, she could already see a few of her classmates from the different points surrounding the course. Bakugo was already sailing through the air thanks to his explosions while Tsuyu was flawlessly leaping from platform to platform with the usual ease that her Quirk afforded her. Kaori found it odd that she couldn't spot Uraraka, but that didn't matter as she caught herself atop a new hand at the apex of her ascent, her direction now changing as she began to spring forward, layering projections in front of her much like she had during the race portion of the Sports Festival. Without needing to worry about any structures or blockages in her path, it was easy to be able to look ahead and see where she needed to place her Quirk without worry about space or bumping into something.

As Kaori continued to sprint forwards, she could already tell that there was little to no chance that she could outpace Bakugo or Tsu given how useful their Quirks were in this situation…but that didn't mean she was out of options just yet. After leaping off one of her projections Kaori placed another glowing hand in her path, though this one was at a slight angle as her foot neared it. But instead of keeping her eyes trained on it, she continued to gaze forwards with the projection rapidly approaching the far edges of her peripheral view.

As it turned out, she had been somewhat mistaken on the initial limits of her Quirk. Thanks to some training with Blink even after her one hand had been put out of commission, she had discovered that there was actually a very brief moment where her projections still existed even after she took her eyes away from them. This she had discovered when Blink had asked her to make a projection as quickly as she could in front of her right before Blink teleported behind her, forcing Kaori to whirl around to face her from a new direction. In that moment of her turning around, Blink had teleported back to the original side she had been on with her hand quickly reaching out to tap Kaori on the shoulder…only to meet her projection face first after Kaori had finished looking away from it.

It would never be enough to be allow Kaori to look away from something if she was trying to hold it back, but it meant that her blind spot wasn't quite as indefensible as she had initially believed. Obviously she still needed to see where the Quirk was manifesting, but it meant that for brief seconds she could keep it up without having to look at it. Further testing had shown that there was also an incredibly small window where if Kaori did happen to take her eyes off her Projections for even a moment, reacquiring them in her view allowed them to continue existing. However, rapidly move her head back and forth to remove and reacquire the sight of them had proven to be incredibly dizzying, and thus not a viable tactic to look between multiple things at once in any sort of rapid succession.

Either way, this would be a new test of the applications of her Quirk as she felt her foot find purchase of the surface her extra appendage, her hand slicing out as though cutting the air as the projection propelled her forwards with greater speed than she had been moving before. This now came with a new risk however, as she would have to maintain this speed by rapidly placing the projections in front of her with less time to react if she were to miss at any point. One misstep or misplaced projection would likely have her spiraling down into the mess of metal structures below. And that would likely be a rather painful landing.

Despite that, her eyes remained fixed on the air in front of her as she continued to approach the platform that All Might stood patiently atop. It seemed that her classmates had spotted her renewed movement as well, as the explosions from Bakugo's hands seemed to be noticeable stronger than before and Tsuyu seemed to be leaping a larger distance between jumps compared to earlier. She could even see Uraraka now creeping up from the metal structures as well as Shoji, though the two of them were lagging a bit behind the rest. Either way, the race had just become considerably closer as everyone got nearer and nearer to All Might's position.

In her haste to reach the goal however, Kaori managed to make the one mistake she had been trying to avoid the entire time. In her rush to propel herself further along with catching sight of the others, she had misplaced her next projections even as All Might's platform was no more than fifty feet away. A gasp of surprise left her throat as her foot tripped over the surface of her newest projection due to the bad angle she had positioned it at, her body suddenly beginning to move into a freefall as her trajectory rapidly changed to be towards the ground instead of the space in front of her.

The fall didn't last long however, as a strong limb wrapped itself around her waist and pulled sharply, her body rapidly moving upwards and off at a slight angle, her stomach shifting unhappily inside of her as she rapidly moved from a downwards angle to upwards once more, threatening to loosen the breakfast she had earlier that day before going to school.

Moments later, her body roughly collided with the surface of the platform that she had been racing towards like the others. Her breath came in shallow gasps as she elected to simply lay flat on the platform for a few moments to catch her bearings after what had just happened. After catching her breath and allowing her heartrate to slow, she carefully sat up from her resting position before gently rising to her feet. Glancing around, she could already see that Bakugo and Tsuyu had reached the goal as well, and Uraraka and Shoji were mere moments away judging from what she could tell.

"Are you alright?" Kaori turned to face Tsu, who stood nearby with a slight tilt to her head.

"I'm assuming that was you that caught me back there?" Kaori asked as she thought back to the shape of the thing that had grabbed her just a short time prior. A brief answered her question before she continued with a grateful look. "Thanks for the save. I'm fine though, just got a little carried away and mistimed my jump is all."

"It's good that you are safe, young Miss Nomi." All Might's deep voice sounded from nearby. "However. You must be more careful with using your Quirk that you don't overextend yourself and end up leaving yourself vulnerable in the process. You were quite fortunate that Miss Asui here was close enough to reach you with her Quirk mid-jump." All Might turned to face the group as a whole just as Uraraka and Shoji finished their approaches to the platform. "And with this round finished, young Bakugo is the winner!"

"Figures." Bakugo scoffed as he casually started striding back to the viewing platform where the rest of the class was.

* * *

"That was so cool what you were doing with your Quirk out there!" Mina gushed as Kaori sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"I don't know about that. What I was doing was pretty similar to what Midoriya was doing in their round. I was just making the platforms myself rather than use existing buildings to get around. I don't know if saying that you were moving so quickly you couldn't use your Quirk in time to stop yourself is really all that great."

"But can't you use your Quirk to catch yourself, though?" Tsu questioned from nearby with her usual blunt way of speaking.

"I could," Kaori admitted in response. "But the problem is my Quirk doesn't have any sort of bounce to it. If I were to try and catch myself midfall then it would just be like landing on a solid surface but a little sooner. Depending on the speed I'm moving at or distance I've travelled, that could practically be fatal."

"What if you redirected your momentum, in that case?" Midoriya's voice carried over as he walked towards the group.

"What, like a pendulum or something?" Kaori asked with a confused tilt to her head. "I'm not quite sure how I'd pull that off."

"Well, I couldn't help but notice the brief moment where you're eyes are off your Quirk that they're still around and fully functional." Midoriya began as he began to go into full-on Quirk analysis mode. "If you were to create a projection using one hand and then grab onto it with the other, you could effectively use the extra hand as a way to throw yourself into the air again and then either catch yourself or continue to move through the air like you normally do with that bridge technique you do."

"I…never thought of that…" Kaori's face was a look of surprise as Midoriya once again flawlessly analyzed the Quirk of one of his classmates and showed just how knowledgeable the boy truly was. "…I think I have something new to practice. Thanks Midoriya."

The green-haired boy suddenly grew sheepish as he always did when praise was directed his way. "Oh no, it was nothing. I just thought that it seemed like the most likely solution given the way your Quirk functions."

With that new knowledge and idea tucked away in her mind, Kaori silently watched as the remainder of their class went through their own challenges. If anything, this just went to prove one thing that she had always believed in - that friends would always be there to catch you when you slipped up. It was highly unlikely that younger Kaori had ever considered just how literal that would one day be.

* * *

 **No excuses. I just fell away a bit in terms of getting this chapter out around when I normally would. Oh well. On a different note, I WAS originally tempted to also include the match-ups for the Students vs Teachers fights in this chapter but with the way the exercise went it just felt too disjointed from the way the interactions panned out. So you'll just have to wait until the next update to find out what fights got changed due to the slight alteration in the class roster.**


	25. Chapter 25

"What was it you wanted to talk to us about, Kaori?"

The young girl turned as she stepped away from the railing that allowed one to look out over the U.A. grounds. Her eyes widened, however, when she came face-to-face with not just Kirishima and Mina, but other students in her class as well. Amongst the group were the likes of Yaoyorozu, Jirou, Kaminari, and even Sero.

"…Whose idea was it?" Kaori asked with a sullen tone.

Mina stepped forward with a small smile on her face. "It was mine to start, but when others overheard they started volunteering themselves rather than me asking. I thought it might help having more people to talk to. Each one of them said they wanted to show their appreciation in some way after getting to know you. Sero's just here because he's good at making jokes."

"Hey!"

"I…don't know if this is something a lot of people should know about…" Kaori started as she awkwardly looked off to the side for a few moments, her arms wrapped around each other as though she were trying to shelter herself away. That feeling was quickly shaken off though, as she gained a stern look on her face before turning back to the group. "...No. No more secrets. That's part of what got me into this mess in the first place."

Kaminari's face grew hesitant as Kaori's mood suddenly shifted. "I'm not so sure about this anymore, you guys. If it has her this torn up is it really such a good idea to get involved?"

"Stop being such a coward, Kaminari." Jirou reprimanded as she slapped the boy's head with one of her earphones. "We're some of the only people in the class that she's actually talked with more than a few words."

"Kaminari has a point, you guys." Kaori stated just as Jirou stopped speaking. "This…isn't exactly the nicest of details I'm about to give you. I won't dislike any of you for choosing to not hear what I'm about to say."

"We all want to give you a chance to get something off of your chest, Kaori." Yaoyorozu spoke up with a hand over her own chest and a sincere look on her face. "Out of everyone in our class you have one of the strongest desires to be a Hero, and it comes from a very meaningful place. If something is bothering you this much you should be allowed to get it out of your system."

"Besides," Kirishima chimed in. "How are you supposed to be able to focus on studying for the finals in a few weeks if you've got other things on your mind?"

"…You're right." Kaori said as a small smile graced her face before it slowly disappeared in favour of the continued unease she felt about what she was about to say. "But this isn't easy for me to talk about so…bear with me." Kaori steeled herself with a deep breath before facing the others with her full attention.

"You guys remember when I talked about what happened to my dad after everything that happened at the USJ a few weeks ago?" A series of nods gave way as she continued. "Well…I found out more details about it during my internship over the last week. It turns out that the Pro I interned with, Blink, used to work with him back when he was still alive. I'd supposedly even seen her a few times as a kid, but I must have repressed it after what happened because of what it was connected to."

"But…isn't that a good thing?" Kirishima asked with a curious tone. "You got to meet someone from your past, and it was one of the Top Heroes on top of that!"

Kaori's face brightened somewhat. "It is. I got to finally meet someone that knew more about my dad outside of his home life and when he wasn't working. I found out that he used to be a part of a team that went out and stopped villains as well as rescuing people like it was nothing. Each one of them had their strengths and weaknesses, but as a whole they evened each other out and covered each other's backs." Her face fell in the moments that followed. "At least…they used to."

The others all gave each other worried looks as Kaori began anew.

"There was a third member of their team, someone that had a powerful Telekinetic Quirk. But the three of them got into a serious argument after something big happened, and it ended up driving the team apart. They all ended up working alone after that for a year before things got worse. In the end…" A few tears fell from Kaori's eyes. "My dad was killed by someone he had trusted for years. Someone that had used to work alongside him stabbed him in the back and left him for dead. And I don't even know why. I don't even know his name because no one will tell me who he was." Looks of shock and horror met Kaori as she held her arms closer to her body as she turned around to prop herself on the railing once more. Her throat felt tight as she continued through the pain. "Now you know why I've been in such a bad mood today. I talked to my mom about it last night, and all she gave me was some crap about protecting me by not telling me. And I responded by shutting myself in my room as I heard her cry outside my door. I was so selfish that I dredged up every painful memory for her like my pain was more important, and it took me all day to figure that out. What kind of person does that?" Kaori's breath hitched as she felt a pair of gentle arms wrap around her from behind.

"Someone that's dealing with a lot of bad memories, that's what." Mina's voice came from behind her as Kaori leaned into the hug a bit before turning around to hug the pinkette back. This moment went over for a little while longer as others came in to join the hug, Kaori's heart slowly lifting as she realized just how much support she had.

"You guys have no idea how much this means to me." Kaori commented as the hug eventually broke and Yaoyorozu offered Kaori a tissue to help dry her eyes. "I didn't realize until now just how badly this was bothering me. And I've just kept it all bottled in for nearly a week. I must look like a mess right now."

"Are you kidding?" Sero exclaimed. "Just look at Kirishima! I'm pretty sure he's cried twice as hard as you!"

"They're tears of manly sorrow, Sero!" Kirishima shouted back. "They're nothing to be ashamed of!"

Kaori felt a laugh leave her without any restraint as the others looked to her with varying smiles.

"Told you he was funny." Mina gave a knowing smirk as Kaori casually gave the girl a soft punch to the shoulder with a roll of her eyes.

* * *

Kaori took a deep breath as she stood outside the door to her home, a weight settled in her gut as she dreaded how her next conversation might go. But after the talk she'd had at U.A., this was something she needed to do, if only to try and amend what she had done the night before. It was with that thought in mind that she carefully opened the door and stepped into the hallway before removing her shoes and walking towards the living area where she would wait for her mother to get home.

To her surprise, she didn't have to wait at all as she came face-to-face with her mother hard at work in the kitchen.

"Mom?" Kaori gave the older woman a confused look. "What are you doing home so soon? I thought you would still be at work."

"I was," Her mother responded calmly. "But they noticed that I seemed to be distracted and told me to take a sick day since I've so rarely taken one and was ahead of my work today anyways. So I came home and tried to find a way to pass the time until you got home. It ended up resulting in me baking to pass the rest of the time I waited though…I might have let it get away from me a little bit."

Kaori's eyes moved to the other parts of the kitchen where her mother wasn't currently working. They then widened as she noticed all of the baked goods that sat on their counter, with a large majority of it being mochi.

"Mom, you could run a bake sale with this much stuff! Why would you make so much?! Especially the mochi?! I'm gonna get fat with this much tempting me!"

"I realized that as I was passing the time that I needed to apologize to you for what happened yesterday. And you've always been more willing to listen when you've got some of your favorite snack waiting."

"Mom, I…" Kaori was at a loss for words as she looked over the dirty kitchen and all of the things that her mother had prepared. Her only eventual response was to step closer to her mother and wrap her arms tightly around her and rest her head on her chest despite all of the baking ingredients that currently coated her apron. She then turned her face after a few moments to look her mother in the eye as she stepped back, flour and sugar coating one side of her uniform as well as her hair – though that one was harder to tell at a glance. "I'm sorry."

Her mother looked at her with confusion. "What for? I'm the one that held back the truth from you all these years. You had every right to be angry at me."

"Maybe I did. But it didn't mean you deserved me acting the way I did. I could have been angry but been a little nicer about it. I realized today, after talking with some friends, that I was being selfish when I should have considered what I had forced you to remember. It wasn't fair of me to just pile all of that on you the way I did."

Her mother simply looked at her and blinked for a few seconds before a warm smile graced her face and she reached out to hug her once more, to which Kaori happily obliged. The two stayed like that for a few moments before they broke apart with smiles on their faces.

"Well, it seems that both of us made some mistakes recently." Her mother started as Kaori nodded plainly. "But that doesn't change the fact that I still worry about you. You're taking up the same kind of work that got your father killed by someone he trusted."

"I know, mom. And I know that we'll likely have disagreements about stuff in the future. Hopefully they won't be as bad as this one."

"Me too, honey. Me too."

As Kaori leaned in to hug her mother once more, she knew that not everything was how she wanted it to be. There was still the matter of the name that she was still being denied. She knew that one day the question would come up again. But until then...she just wanted to enjoy the safe feeling within her mother's arms, much like the feeling she had shared with some of her classmates earlier that day. No matter what happened, she knew that she would always have someone there to support her in their own way.

* * *

As the weeks leading up to the exams passed, everyone grew more and more anxious until some were fit to burst. And in some way, a few of them seemed to when the exams were just around the corner. In the end, Kaori ended up joining others in her class in some tutoring sessions with Yaoyorozu to brush up on the different subjects prior to their tests. Being ranked 12 out of 20 in terms of her grades, Kaori knew she would need to brush up a bit and do better in the written course due to her talents lying more in the physical aspects rather than mental. Not to say that she was an idiot, but she knew she could do better.

As the tests came and went, everyone eventually came to be standing outside of U.A. in their Hero costumes in front of a large amount of the school's teachers. As everyone thought that the upcoming practical would be against robots, this seemed more than a little odd to many of them.

"Recent events have forced us to change how we approach the exams! As such, all of you will be paired up to face…the faculty of U.A."

Following that exclamation, everyone was gradually paired off against a different teacher. As it came down to a few of them yet to be assigned, Kaori felt herself perk up as she heard her name called. Despite preferring to hear her first name, she knew that people like the teachers would often use her last name instead.

"Kirishima will be paired up with Nomi to go up against Cementoss."

Sometimes, Kaori wondered if the universe just enjoyed putting obstacles in people's way when they were trying to do better. But she never thought that it would wind up being so literal in this case.

* * *

 **Bit of an exposition dump/time-skip this time around. But, despite how it may look not everything is necessarily resolved. While there have been some apologies for the ways people acted, that doesn't mean everything is suddenly sunshine and roses. I wouldn't consider this one of my better chapters by any stretch of the imagination. But that's just how things go. But for now, you'll all have to wait around a couple weeks to see just how the fights go before things transition towards the Training Camp side of things. I can't WAIT to really crack open the tension over the next number of updates.**


	26. Chapter 26

Kaori and Kirishima both silently stood as they looked out over the battlefield they would be facing Cementoss in. All around them were various buildings and structures that were in place to simulate them fighting in an urban location full of obstacles and challenges. But the real problem was their opponent. Cementoss was a clear disadvantage for both of them, as his walls could easily cut off Kaori's line of sight to use her Quirk at any sort of meaningful distance, and would likely wear down on the durability of Kirishima's Quirk with time.

It was with that thought in mind that Kaori's eyes widened with concern as Kirishima bolted forwards the moment the horn sounded. His body was already rock solid as he started punching at walls that Cementoss formed nearly instantaneously. But what he didn't notice was the ground slowly shifting behind him as structures began to rise slowly from his rear.

"Don't run in so fast!" She yelled out to catch the boy's attention even as he spun his head to look at her as she spoke. They then widened as he noticed the walls forming behind him, though it was already too late as the walls rose above the point where Kaori could see him and thus do anything useful.

Or so she thought until she realize that the walls weren't closing in immediately. With a quick application of her Quirk, Kaori lifted herself off of the ground to kneel carefully on one of her projections as she looked down into the dome that Cementoss was beginning to form around her friend. With her free hand, she created a projection within the dome just next to Kirishima before yelling down to him.

"Quickly, jump on!"

Kirishima barely hesitated as he hopped onto her projection before Kaori hurriedly closed her hand around him to lift him out just before the dome sealed over him. With a quick sigh of relief, she let go of the boy to let him land gently on the roof of the dome even as she released her own Quirk and landed beside him. As soon as she did so, a quick rap of her knuckle to Kirishima's head were her next statement as the boy flinched from the sudden impact even though he still had his Quirk active and thus likely would have barely felt it anyways.

"You'll never make it even halfway to him if you just charge in like that!" Kaori reprimanded her teammate even as the two of them hopped down to flatter ground. "Besides, we have a full half hour to do this. That doesn't mean we need to rush and try to finish as quickly as possible."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Kirishima stated with a defeated tone. "Thanks for the save, by the way. I thought I was done for as soon as I saw how high those walls were getting."

"No worries. But they obviously chose the two of us to go up against Cementoss for a reason. It forces us to try and fight differently than we normally would." Kaori stated as she led Kirishima off to an alley nearby upon explaining why staying out of sight was a good idea. "You would normally just bust through anything in the way with your Quirk while I would likely just try to go over it, what with how I've been getting a lot of practice using my Quirk as a platform lately. His Quirk blocks both of us from taking the direct approach with ease."

"But that's just it, though." Kirishima commented as he spared a glance out to the street. "That's essentially our thing. How are we supposed to beat him if we can't fight like what we're used to."

"That's the whole point of the test though, isn't it?" Kaori replied. "Find a way to win or escape without using our normal approach when our opponent is clearly that much more skilled than us? It just means that we'll need to find another way around without letting him see where we are so that he can't try and trap either of us. It's going to take the two of us working together to pull this off."

Kirishima smirked slightly as Kaori's words sank in. "You've thought this out a bit, haven't you? You even make it sound like you have a plan."

"Nothing solid, but it should get us closer to the gate at the very least. After all, Cementoss relies on line-of-sight almost as much as I do to know where and when to use his abilities. So we'll use that to our advantage and move through the streets and alleys towards the goal where we know he isn't looking. But he's bound to have realized by now that we aren't approaching from the front so we'd better start moving in case he comes this way."

"Right behind you, Kaori."

* * *

It was a stressful period of time as Kaori and Kirishima made their way towards the goal whilst simultaneously keeping an eye out for their foe. It was likely that he was staying close to the gate to block them as soon as they came into view, but that didn't mean they could just stay idle and wait for a solution to present itself. The only thing they could do was move closer and closer to their target while also moving closer and closer to one of their greatest challenges to date. All in all, they ended up using around ten of their initial thirty minutes just to carefully move from place to place without making too much noise. On top of the few minutes they had spent at the beginning putting their idea together, they were already slightly over halfway through their slotted time.

"How close do you think we are at this point?" Kirishima asked as the two took a moment to gather their surroundings.

"Probably almost there, but that's the problem." Kaori replied with a frown. "I still don't have any idea how to get past Cementoss. I only knew that this would be how we got closer without him getting us."

"Then I guess it's my turn." Kirishima smirked once again as he clacked his two hardened fists in front of him. "You go as high as you can, and I'll cause a distraction so that you can reach the goal."

"Don't be stupid, Kirishima!" Kaori snapped as she grabbed roughly on to the redhead's arms before he could get out of reach. "How do we know that it'll count as a pass for you if you sacrifice yourself to get me to the goal? You could fail the practical!"

"But don't heroes make sacrifices all the time? They'd have to, since most of them can't be in two places at once. The least I can do is give you a fighting chance since your Quirk is better suited to getting past him."

"And there you go bashing on your own Quirk again!" Kaori stomped her foot angrily as she glared at Kirishima. "Your ability is so much better than you keep making it sound! You can do things that most people can't because of the risk of being hurt! You had a giant mech land on you ad not leave a scratch in the Sports Festival for crying out loud!"

"Why do you think I'm saying you should go around while I try to push through the front?"

Kaori's mouth snapped shut as her face went slightly red. A mumbled apology was all she could manage as Kirishima shook his head with an amused look before running out onto the street.

"Hey, over here! It's time for round two, and I'm not letting you beat me this time!"

* * *

Kaori watched silently as Kirishima rushed ahead and out of her line of sight. With a brief, calming breath she then turned to look up briefly at the height of the building she was standing next to. With practiced ease, she started hopping up a bit at a time as she kept her eyes locked below to make sure that her projections didn't disappear at a bad time.

The moment she reached the top, she quickly hopped onto the roof of the building as she looked down to the street below to see how Kirishima was doing. To her surprise, rather than him punching at every surface in front of him, he seemed to be skipping some of Cementoss' structures as he moved slowly forwards. It was easy to tell though that he wouldn't be able to keep it up forever as Cementoss continued to stare ahead unflinching as he manipulated the concrete in the ground and started to form walls behind Kirishima once again. Now would be her best chance to rush the goal as Kirishima kept him distracted.

But something stopped her as she was about to start moving forward and try hopping from rooftop to rooftop.

Kirishima was one of her closest friends. One of the first people she had really opened up to at this new school and hadn't cared one bit about what she may have been like before or what kind of past she had. He was one of the foundations that kept her moving forwards at this school as she continued to strive towards her dream.

And he deserved better.

Kaori's eyes began to glow their purple hue once more as she looked towards the sky above him and the pitched battle with Cementoss. "Sorry Kirishima, but we're doing this together." Her right hand began to glow as she pushed as much as she could to form a projection as quickly and as bulky as possible.

* * *

Kirishima continued to punch through the walls even as he began to feel a dull throb forming in his arms the weaker his Quirk became. He had known that eventually he would run out of gas and would end up being caught in the process. But he had done this knowing that his friend would at least make it to the goal. And with that thought in mind, he smiled as things grew darker and Cementoss' prison closed around him.

Only to be smashed to pieces moments later by a massive glowing hand that reached out to fling him into the air before he felt his feet land squarely on a not quite flat surface. Looking down, he realized with a surprised look that he was standing on one of Kaori's projections, roughly the same size as the one she had used back in the Entrance Exam to grab some debris and crush a bunch of bots all in one go. It had been impossible to miss something that big after all.

His eyes whirled to try and find the girl as he spotted her standing on the rooftop of the building the two had been hiding next to. He mimed for her to go ahead, only to be met with a shake of her head as he felt the surface under him shift once more. His footing became awkward as the hand tilted in a way that he was partially facing the goal, even as Cementoss stared up in surprise for a moment before attempting to create a series of walls to block her line of sight and remove her projection.

But it was too late as Kirishima felt a rush of wind move past him as he lifted off and flew through the air towards the goal. He was moving too fast for Cementoss to create a wall in his way, and so his body took a full impact landing on the opposite side of the gate, with just enough hardening to soften the blow from hurting too much. An anxious look fell over his face as he cursed, realization that this meant that Kaori would now be stuck facing her opponent on her own crossing his mind.

* * *

A breath of relief came from her throat as Kaori watched Kirishima's landing kick up a bit of dust and foliage on the other end of the goal. His passing was guaranteed at this point…

Now she just needed to get past the series of walls springing up all around the building she was on.

If there was one thing that was working in her favour at the moment, it was the fact that at this height Cementoss wouldn't have a perfect angle to try and wrap walls all the way around her too quickly. What it did mean, however, was that there would be no time for hesitation as she started to sprint towards an open edge with her hands held out before her with the signature glow of her Quirk shining bright as day.

Her stride quickly carried her out onto open air much like she had done during the rescue race following their internships, memories of that challenge passing through her mind as she spared a thought to her current situation. The only things she could bother to worry about at the moment was putting one platform in front of the other while also watching out for any stray constructs from Cementoss.

It was with a sharp intake of breath and a brief stumble that Kaori pushed sideways off of her latest platform moments before she would have impacted one of her opponent's walls inches in front of her. He was starting to anticipate her route and creating obstacles in front of it rather than trying to catch her on the spot. The fact that this would inevitably turn into him making a path out of walls to trap her, meant that she would need to dig at the bottom of the barrel of her tricks to reach the goal which felt like it was just within reach. Sure, she could just keep going up until she walked over it, but the symbol that it represented meant that nothing would be satisfactory for Kaori other than to walk directly through the arch where Kirishima waited.

Without a moment to waste, Kaori jumped OVER Cementoss' latest wall as her last projection disappeared. The wind rushed past her as she felt her body soar over the structure before stalling slightly as her body reach the apex of her arc. Just as she started to fall, however, her practice with using her projections as handholds over the last few weeks came into play. With a quick flash and a solid grip, she grasped the hand floating above her and pulled up on it to lift herself into the air again as a platform was formed just in front of her. After a brief sense of vertigo passed – a feeling she still needed to get used to when feeling weightless as she had just recently – she started hopping lower and lower towards the ground by placing projections a couple feet below her each time.

To her advantage, doing it so close to one of Cementoss' walls meant that he would be unable to see her – something that was easily apparent as she saw a few walls rise in the distance in anticipation of her movement. As the ground grew closer, however, it seemed that he had caught on to her plan as she saw his body start to come into view from around the wall, his eyes scanning about for her. Being so close to the goal as his hands started to lower towards the ground, Kaori tilted her hands one final time as she turned both of her feet to meet the flat surface of her projections before she herself towards the goal in one last-ditch effort. The only way she knew she had succeed was the solid impact of her body on grass and debris rather than a solid wall. She then felt her body hoisted to its feet as Kirishima grasped onto one of her hands and pulled her up into a standing position. She knew that he would likely be a little upset at going against his wishes in the end, but judging from the smile on his face he was more happy that the two of them had passed.

And it couldn't be more satisfying as the buzzer rang overhead announcing the end of the test.

* * *

 **Double update weekend! For those of you that are also here from my RWBY story, you get an extra dosage this week to wrap things up. For those of you just reading this, here is your regularly scheduled publish. And this chapter, like others before it, show how some events will end up different due to the involvement of a different character. As much as I could have simply had Kaori be the one to lose alongside Kirishima I wanted to see how different I could make things when later arcs come into play. Yes, it may be daunting and I'll have to deal with changing some pretty major events in some way. But that's just part of the fun if you ask me. Sometimes you want to play separate from the large events, and other times you want to make a splash and create ripples that shift the things they push up against.**

 **You'll all just have to wait and see just how this changes things going forward. Enjoy the wait ;)**


	27. Chapter 27

After an exhilarating day coming down from her fight alongside Kirishima as well as watching the rest of their classmates duke it out, Kaori was finally able to sit down and relax as they waited for the results to be announced by Aizawa for who would and wouldn't be going to the Training Camp over the summer. For the ones that had failed their practical tests – those being Mina, Kaminari, Sero, and Sato – they all had a slight hunch to their forms as they surmised they would be the ones most likely not going.

That was, until Aizawa dropped the bomb about another "logical deception" and revealed that everyone would still be going, just that the four that had failed their battles would be doing extra review during said trip. Something that a few had some words to say, especially Iida as he voiced the concern over whether Aizawa's instruction would truly be trustworthy in the future give this being the second time he had pulled a ruse on them.

But with that revelation came a new realization – the things that many of them might need for a camping trip that they wouldn't already have laying at home.

"I can't believe I still have to take lessons while we're out having fun…" Mina grumbled after happily trying on a pair of shoes for their trip.

"At least we still get to go, though." Kaminari pointed out from nearby while Iida carefully scrutinized a few different pairs for himself.

"I know," Mina admitted as a small smile came back to her face at the statement. "But it would have been nice to actually finish the test like the rest of our class, you know?"

"If you truly think about it," Iida started as his attention turned in their direction. "This is simply another way for U.A. to further teach us by imparting the values of good strategy and overcoming any obstacle in our way!"

Kaori giggled lightly with a small smile as she put back a shoe box that turned out to be a size too small. "You never fail to see the opportunity for a lesson to be learned, huh Iida?"

"Of course not!" Their co-class president stated without hesitation. "I would never be able to forgive myself if I failed to understand the purpose of anything that may happen!" His tone grew more somber as he glanced towards his left hand. "Especially after what happened in Hosu City."

Kaori felt her stomach lurch for a moment as she, Mina, and Kaminari all grew worried expressions. "Iida I am SO SORRY for bringing that up, I feel like a complete ass."

"There's no need to apologize, Kaori." Iida's face suddenly turned to give her a small smile. "What I learned that night was important and made me realize how much I still need to grow before I can consider myself a Hero. There's no fault in what you said."

"But still-"

"Trust me, its fine." Iida waved off her concerns as he turned back to gazing over the different styles of footwear. "Besides, as long as my classmates are there to help I'm sure I won't be able to get in over my head anyways."

A small smile found its way to everyone else's faces as the moment passed and they returned to casually getting the things they needed for their trip. The relaxed moment was short-lived however; as everyone suddenly received a mass text from Uraraka stating that one of the members of the League of Villains had just recently cornered Midoriya.

* * *

Following a stressful amount of time as everyone rushed to make sure Midoriya and Uraraka were alright, they all went their separate ways back to their homes in wait for the big trip that they would be taking in the near future.

As Kaori carefully shuffled the things she had bought around whilst opening the door to her home, she was surprised to hear a pair of voices talking down the hall towards the kitchen – even more so when she recognized who the voice that wasn't her mother's belonged to. The sudden thumping noise that echoed down the hall when she hurriedly set the supplies on the ground caused the voices to stop for a moment before a familiar face poked its way around the corner. The face of the #6 Pro Hero, Blink.

"Hey there, kiddo. What's up?"

* * *

"I don't understand," Kaori started as she sat at the table with the other two after her mother had calmly asked her to take a seat for them to have a bit of a chat. Her head tilted slightly towards the Hero sitting at a third seat at their table. "What's she doing here?"

Her mother shook her head slightly. "Kaori, did you have to phrase it so rudely?" Her mother sighed lightly before she reached towards a steaming mug of coffee before taking a sip.

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it." Bli…Nozomi replied with a smirk on her face. "She IS Akiyama's daughter after all. She can't always be as professional as you."

"Something that still makes me wonder to this day why that man ever considered work as a Pro Hero when he was younger." Her mother smiled to herself at what was likely a distant memory. "It just never made sense at first. Especially when you consider all of the politics around the whole thing."

"Oh, don't kid yourself, Nei." The pro gave her mother a casual punch on the arm. "You know exactly why he did it, politics be damned. He couldn't stand seeing someone in trouble without stepping in. Better he do it legally than wind up labeled a Vigilante like those that didn't bother taking the standard route."

Kaori cleared her throat to get the other two's attention, fully aware that they were stalling in some fashion. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Not as easy to distract as him, unfortunately." Nozomi stated as her focus turned back to the younger girl. "That one she definitely got from you."

Her mother snorted. "Thank goodness, otherwise I would've been concerned about her doing well in school as she grew up." Her focus then turned to her daughter as well as the two adult's expressions grew more serious. "As for why she happens to be visiting…well I took some time to think after the disagreements we had following your Internship with her. And I came to realize that I was simply withholding information because I was secretly afraid of what it might dredge up for you. Yes, the small concern for you going out and seeking justice for your father crossed my mind briefly, but I realized shortly after that I hadn't give you enough credit for just how much you had grown up. When you were younger, there were many times we had to have discussions with you about not picking fights with other students over disagreements surrounding Quirks and Pro Heroes. But as you grew up, whether it was by distancing yourself from that line of thought after what happened to your father or simply from you maturing, you showed that you think things through a bit more before rushing in. And I was never willing to admit that you were growing up so fast that you needed to know what may lie out there for you to face in the future."

Her face turned to gesture to Nozomi for a moment. "So I decided to bury the hatchet and ask her to come by and visit one day so that we might be able to put ay disagreements behind us for your sake. And I'm glad I did that. Having someone else to talk to aside from Maki that knew your father closely has been something I think I've needed for a while. Both to show just how much I'd tried to lock us in a box, but also for how much I had ignored a side of our past for selfish reasons."

"That," Nozomi's voice caused Kaori to turn her attention to her now. "And the fact that it's about time we told you a bit more about the man your father and I used to work with."

"Wait," Kaori looked back and forth for a moment between the two older women. "You're serious?"

Both of them nodded before Nozomi spoke once more. "Completely. But what we'll tell you is only what we know or happen to remember. After all, everyone has their secrets and there always had to be a reason for him to turn on us like that and do what he did before disappearing. He was probably one of the most secretive people I knew in all my life." Nozomi took a deep breath before she started.

"The thing is, the three of us used to be inseparable when we were learning about what it meant to be heroes and working our way through the lessons to eventually be able to help people. We all had our dreams of being able to stand in front of the world and show that we were there to help protect it like so many before us. Considering our debuts were a bit after All Might debuted as a Hero, there was a lot to live up to at the time. Villains were far more common and people were more afraid at times of the things that might happen to them if they weren't careful. For a while, it worked well. The three of us covered each other's weaknesses and aided each other's strengths whenever the situation needed it. Sometimes we would take separate jobs if things got too crazy and took on the help of the heroes at each situation to sort out the problems." A look of regret passed over Nozomi's face before she continued. "There ae times that I look back and realize that those times were a mistake. We should have ALWAYS been there to help each other out no matter what was going on. The other heroes would have handled it anyways, and we always worked better as a team. There was one time in particular that we all went on separate jobs and he came back a changed man from whatever he had encountered. We tried to ask him what happened so that we might help, but he just kept pushing us back saying it was better that we didn't know. After that, well…he almost seemed to prefer doing solo jobs rather than working with the two of us anymore. Any rare time we would agree he seemed so much more violent when we went up against the Villains. There were times that he injured them so badly that there was a wonder if they would ever be able to function normally if they ever were let out of prison for misusing their Quirk's. Sometimes he would even outright kill them. At first we thought it was accidental, but as it happened more we knew that couldn't be the case. He used to be so much gentler with his Telekinesis whenever he immobilized a Villain or defended one of us whenever we were caught off guard. Something was wrong and we needed to find out what it was before things got worse. Unfortunately, that discussion quickly turned into a yelling match when all he claimed was that it was a necessary evil to kill some of them before they got worse. He stopped believing in due-process and leaving their punishments to be doled out by the police and the justice system like they had in the past. He made himself into judge, jury, and executioner without giving us a good reason as to why. I wanted to leave it at that and just go back to being a Hero if all he cared about was senseless violence, but your father kept pleading to his better nature to try and convince him to stop. The two of us ended up disagreeing about what to do about him, and so in the end our group split and we took to always doing solo jobs. The rest from there is history."

"But," Kaori started as she tried to clear a lump from her throat. "That makes it sound like he turned into something like what the Hero Killer was. Someone that enacted their own sense of justice on the world without a care for who it was that they happened to target."

"That's the weird part. It never got that bad up until what happened with your father. He never attacked a Hero or even so much as batted an eye at someone being a fame seeker. He only ever murdered Villains or upstarts. As soon as your father was killed…he disappeared. No matter how hard we searched he never turned up. But now that you're starting to make a name and drawing attention to your past with things like the Sports Festival and the different things U.A. has been wrapped up in, there's been a concern that he might show up to confront you one day due to being his daughter. It's better that you at least know of his existence rather than suddenly coming face to face with him and not knowing what you're dealing with."

That night as Kaori felt herself drift to sleep; she couldn't help but wonder just what could cause a person to suddenly turn so sharply from simply protecting people to being so violent whenever Villains were concerned.

* * *

A puff of smoke filled the air of the dreary apartment as the man glanced around his living space. This would likely be one of the last times he would be here for a while given what he was about to involve himself in. But this path had been set out for him years ago, whether he liked it or not. And if he wanted to make sure it saw the end he wanted…he would have to put on the mask once again.

A hand casually gestured towards a mobile phone sitting on a nearby counter before it sailed in his direction and he caught it with practiced ease. A quick series of numbers entered in and a ring tone could be heard as he waited patiently for someone to pick up on the other end. After a few moments wait, a deep voice finally picked up on the other side.

"Who is this?"

The man grumbled slightly to himself. "You know damn well who it is. I said I'd call back with this number when I made up my mind."

There was a brief pause. "And?"

"Tell him I'll do his dirty work and get what he wants."

"Excellent. I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that rather than having to ask someone…more unpleasant."

"Yeah, yeah, cut the crap. But it's on one condition."

"…I will pass it along and see what he says."

"I'm only there for the sake of retrieval. I'm not fussing over some stupid kill list or target list over some vendetta. I find the one that he wants, and that's it. I'm not the revenge type."

"You know that he won't be happy about that."

"As far as I'm concerned he's lucky I agreed to this in the first place."

"We both know full well that you wouldn't likely have a choice in the matter, regardless."

"You're toeing a thin line. Especially considering how easily I could put you down."

"Frankly, I couldn't care less. You do that, and everything you seek to protect will come crashing down around you. This arrangement only works so long as you fulfill your end of the deal. And if anyone happens to impede your task, you WILL eliminate them."

"…Fine. But don't be surprised if I bide my time until the moment's right."

"That's perfectly acceptable. But be warned, the rest of this group isn't as…restrained as you may like."

"I saw the list. I'm fully aware. But as long as they stick to the plan and stay out of my way they can deal with their own consequences."

"You make it sound like they'll fail. You wouldn't be planning on ruining this operation, would you?"

"Hardly. I just know with how disorganized all of this shit is right now there's no way they'll be a cohesive unit. Maybe they'll put up a fight for a bit, but they'll lose in the end. They've never worked together a day in their lives and that's how I can tell what'll likely happen."

"You may be surprised."

"Doubt it. Now piss off and pass on the news." A deep sigh passed from the man's lips as he placed a hand to his face the moment the line clicked dead. Moments later, his eyes turned to face a familiar dartboard where a piece still lay stuck in an old photo. A careful pluck of the dart and grasp of said photo left the man silent contemplating for a few seconds before the photo was carefully placed in the breast pocket of his large coat.

"Everyone always asks too many questions. Haven't any of them heard about curiosity killing the cat?"

* * *

 **Major apologies for how delayed this ended up getting. My original plan was to release this update sometime over the weekend on one of my assorted days off, but I let myself get more than a little sidetracked with one of my video games that I've been playing probably a bit too much lately. Regardless, after this we'll be moving right into the Training Camp and events beyond! Hope you're all as eager to see what happens differently as I am to reveal it!**


	28. Chapter 28

"Man she must have a lot of patience to deal with that guy so calmly." Kaori commented idly as she glanced out the window of the bus.

"Who?" Mina turned to her with a curious look.

"Kendo. You've seen that blonde guy from Class B. He's like a slightly more polite but just as obnoxious Bakugo."

"I'll fucking kill you, glowstick!" A familiar shout sounded from another end of the bus amidst all the chatter. Mina giggled slightly at the nickname Bakugo had happened to choose for her, much to Kaori's annoyance.

"…Does he seriously have to put such little effort into those damn names?" Kaori mumbled under her breath so that Bakugo wouldn't accidentally hear her words this time.

"Hey, at least it's not 'raccoon eyes'." Mina stated with a pout. "I hate being compared to something that eats garbage whenever he happens to mention me."

"Says the girl that was more than okay naming herself after an old movie monster that killed people." Kaori stated with a smirk and roll of her eyes. Her voice took on a slightly mocking tone. "Whatever would you do?"

"Hey! That thing is cool and nothing you can tell me will convince me otherwise!"

"As soon as I stop freaking out every time I see one of those…things…burst out of someone's gut then I'll agree with you." A disgusted look crossed Kaori's face before she shook her head a bit as though to clear the thought. "It's a good thing I get to choose for our next movie night."

"Not all of my favorite movies are monster movies, though!"

"Doesn't matter, we agreed on a rotation."

"Everybody quiet down and get ready to exit the bus." Aizawa's voice sounded from the front of the bus. "We're almost there."

Kaori turned to Mina with a surprised look. "That was fast. Guess we'll have to table our movie talks for another time, huh?"

"I still say that I was robbed when Midnight said no…" Mina crossed her arms and slid down into her seat a bit with a theatrical huff. Kaori could only shake her head in amusement at the antics of her friend as everyone anxiously awaited the view of their destination.

* * *

Needless to say…no one was expecting a sudden fall down a mountainside and put face-to-face with a bunch of earthen monsters that they would have to fight their way through to reach the place they would be staying.

"Above us!" Kaori yelled out as she reached out with her Quirk to grab a pair of flying creatures out of reach of most of her classmates before slamming them into the ground with a sickening crunch. A few heads turned in surprise at the sudden shout, but immediately were forced back into their own battles as more of the earthen constructs came across their trek through the forest.

After doing this for a few hours, everyone was starting to show signs of wear and tear, but they knew that despite how harsh it was this was right up the alley of what they signed up for when they came to U.A. Everyone knew that after the events of the USJ and the encounters many of them faced during their internships that they still had a long way to go.

That didn't make it any less exhausting, however.

"I thought using your Quirk too often gave you headaches, Kaori. Shouldn't you stay back and let some of us take care of them when you call them out?" Yaoyorozu commented as she lowered a large two-handed hammer she had created with her Quirk to bash through the more vulnerable parts of the creatures that attacked them.

"Oh, I have a bit of one already starting here." Kaori motioned with one finger towards the top right side of her head. "But I can't let that stop me. If I ever hesitated, then someone else could wind up in danger or get badly hurt. I just have to push through it."

"Let me help at the very least." Her pony-tailed classmate reached out with one hand as a pair of small pills formed in the palm of her hand a few moments later. "Take these to help make it subside at the very least."

Kaori hesitated for a moment as she glanced between the pills and Yaoyorozu's face. The moment the girl gave a small nod her hand was almost a blur as she grabbed the pills and swallowed them dry before giving Yaoyorozu an appreciative nod of her own. "You didn't have to do that you know. You'd be better off saving your energy to make whatever weapons you need to for dealing with these things."

"I can't just let my friends and classmates risk their safety without doing something to help, now can I? Besides, it's good for me to practice making some of the more complex creations without always having my book on me. I've known the makeup of painkillers for years given how useful they can be in an emergency."

"What about all that stuff about not ruining the economy?" Kaori tilted her head with an inquisitive look.

"I always make exceptions when the need arises. We can't exactly have you collapsing due to a migraine, can we?"

A knowing smirk appeared on Kaori's face. "All the same, thanks for looking out for me."

* * *

Following an exhausting ordeal that ended nearly around dinner time, everyone finally emerged from the forest and in front of the lodge where Aizawa and some of the members of the group known as the Pussycats were awaiting them. Everyone looked terrible with various scratches and scuffs, but mainly piles of dirt and dust lingering on all of their bodies that was kicked up whenever one of the earthen beasts were defeated and crumbed into bits before drifting off into the wind.

With grateful hearts and hearty appetites, everyone dug into the food prepared for them without any hesitation before eventually going off to the large baths set aside for the girls and for the boys to wash up for the night.

"Oh man, this feels great right now." Kaori sighed as she sank a little further into the warm, soothing water. "I feel like I could melt…"

"You know, it wouldn't hurt as much if you didn't go around punching things all the time like some of the boys do." Hagakure commented from nearby as some water shifted around her invisible body. "Though I guess some boys are probably into that sort of thing."

"Well, as soon as you think of some other way for me to use my Quirk, feel free to mention it." Kaori calmly replied as she soaked in the large pool. "I could care less what any boys think of it, regardless."

"Speaking of boys, what do you think they'll do whenever some of the boys from Class B use this bath?" Mina commented off to Kaori's other side.

"Why would that matter to us?" Uraraka questioned.

"It likely has to do with one of the boys in their class being a massive pervert based on something Kendo told me when we interned together with Uwabami." Yaoyorozu replied as she placed a finger to her chin.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Kaori idly commented as she continued to relax with her eyes closed. "Look up there." Without even opening her eyes, Kaori pointed up towards an oddly-shaped object that was poking up slightly from the wall separating the two baths.

"What is that?" Jirou wondered aloud the same question on many of their minds.

"It's the hat that belongs to that kid Kouta that Mandalay was talking about when we got here. I caught a glimpse of it when we all came in."

"Your eyesight is amazing, Kaori!" Hagakure praised the white-haired girl who failed to fight a small blush at the compliment. "That's incredible!"

"…It's not THAT fantastic…" Kaori mumbled as she sank a little more into the water with an awkward look. "I just worked a lot on noticing small details when I was younger because of the way my Quirk works."

"I would have to disagree." Yaoyorozu's voice took on a criticizing tone. "Being able to spot small details such as that is an indispensable skill."

"You've been spending too much time working on class president stuff with Iida, Yaomomo." Mina commented with a smirk. "You're starting to sound like him."

"Leave her alone, Mina." Kaori chided with a laugh, glad to not be the target of everyone's attention for a few moments much to Yaoyorozu's discomfort. "…Thank you, Yaoyorozu. I guess I just never really thought much of it before since it was fairly normal for me and my mom to just be really keen at noticing things since both of us rely so heavily on our sight compared to the normal amount other people do."

"Speaking of which…" Mina turned to wave up towards the wall where Kaori had pointed out Kouta's hat. "Thanks for looking out for us, Kouta!"

Unfortunately for all of the girls, Kouta happened to glance up over the wall at the sound of his voice being called out, only for his eyes to widen into saucer plates before he stumbled backwards over the wall towards the boys side.

"Somebody catch him!" Uraraka yelled out as all of the girls looked on with expressions of fear and shock. A sudden sound of rushing water followed by a dull thud against the wood of the wall had everyone's breath held.

"He's okay!" Midoriya's voice echoed from the other side of the wall, allowing all of the girls to release the breaths they'd been holding the entire time. The moment of peace didn't last long before Kaori reached over and swatted at Mina's arm with a displeased look.

"What were you thinking, Mina?!" Kaori fought to keep herself from breaking into a nasty yell and instead kept her voice strict and controlled. "He could have gotten really badly hurt!"

"I'm sorry, okay!" The pink-haired girl apologized profusely. "I didn't know that was going to happen!"

Kaori regarded the torn up expression on her friends face as well as the worried looks the other girls had as well. "…Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. But did you really think he WASN'T going to react to his name being called out like that? Maybe next time, DON'T call out a boy's name when we're all naked in a bath, okay?" Kaori's eyes gained a far off look for a moment before a VERY uncomfortable look came over her face. "On second thought…maybe don't think too hard on what I just said." Just as quickly as she spoke, Kaori dunked nearly her entire body save for her head back into the water. "…Damnit Yori. You've gotten too ingrained into my head…"

"Who's Yori?" Jirou asked with a confused look.

"She's a friend of Kaori's from when she went to middle school." Mina replied with a knowing look. "We met once when Kaori introduced me, Kirishima, and a couple girls from Class B to her and another friend of hers."

"Yeah…and she is an absolute tease that is often obsessed with boys." Kaori grumbled from her sunken place. "It doesn't help that her Quirk let's her read minds to an extent, so she often uses that to tease people about crushes and different things like that. She has almost no boundaries when she's in one of her more excitable moods and it's terrible."

"She can't be that bad, can she?" Uraraka questioned with an innocent look.

"If she ever gets the chance to meet any of you…avoid thinking about anyone you may possibly have a crush on or think is good looking as much as possible." A dark look loomed over Kaori's face for a moment. "She will NEVER stop hounding you about it." For some reason, Uraraka seemed to shy away the most at that statement.

* * *

With all of the day's events out of the way, Kaori gently lowered herself into one of the beds lying on the floor of the room assigned to the girls for their training camp. All in all, a lot of things had gone on and Kaori now looked back on it to really reflect on how much her day-to-day life had changed since she had set foot in U.A. Going from a rather boring cycle like she had when she was in middle school to a life that had something crazy happening every other day from the way it felt at times really made her wonder why she had chosen this path sometimes. But whenever her mind turned to thoughts of her father and her friends, from U.A. or otherwise, she couldn't help but smile and not have a single doubt about her choices.

A hero's life was never dull, after all.

* * *

 **More of a fluff piece this time around, but I wanted to take advantage of some of the scenes like when their class was on the bus as well as in the hot springs prior to getting their bodies worked into a dizzy in the days that follow. I also wanted to highlight some of the relationships she has with her classmates a bit more, as I feel I don't do that enough sometimes whenever they aren't stuck in a battlefield or something along those lines. All in all, a very simple chapter but not without its own purposes to highlight different things.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Rather important info that everyone should be aware of based on recent info I've received via some of the stories I read here (shocking, right?! people that publish stuff here read other people's works as well!) Sarcasm aside, there appears to be a serious hack that hit the site that has caused a very dangerous bug to be released that will affect your account and effectively lock out your password and ability to reset via email. Here's the good news though. This bug only targets people that view infected account's profiles. So as long as you only read stories and avoid any direct contact with a user's profile outside of that, you should be safe. No one really knows whose accounts are infected or are safe, but it's better to play it safe for the time being.**

 **Otherwise, we now return to your regularly (somewhat) scheduled story updates.**

* * *

The following morning had everyone in their class on the groggy side as they were forced to get up early in preparation for their training that Aizawa and the Pussycats had planned for them. What caught the surprise of many of them was the moment Aizawa pulled out a ball for Bakugo to toss much like they had been instructed to do for part of their fitness test they had performed on their first day at U.A. What everyone WASN'T expecting was for Bakugo's throw to go barely any further than it had despite the weeks of classes and lessons they had at U.A. Following the exercise, Aizawa moved on to explain just exactly what it was they would be working on for the duration of their time away from home – strengthening each and every one of their unique abilities to make them stronger and more versatile.

For some the training was more specific. Due to some of their Quirks being unique manifestations, not everyone would benefit from pure physical training like many would be going through with Tiger. Many of them would require tailored exercises to truly enhance their abilities and find a way to more efficiently use them without tiring themselves out in the future. This, however, left Kaori with a unique problem of her own.

"Excuse me, Mister Aizawa?" Kaori spoke up to get the attention of her homeroom teacher after he had finished assigning tasks to the majority of their class. His tired expression turned her way, and had it been closer to the beginning of the year she would have shied away immediately at seeing his face. "What about MY Quirk training? I already get plenty of physical training both at U.A. and during my martial arts lessons outside of school. How am I supposed to improve my Quirk outside of that?"

"Simple." Aizawa stated plainly as he turned to face one of the other members of the Pussycats, Pixie-Bob. "I'll let Pixie Bob explain it for you since I still have to assign tasks for the others."

Kaori nodded politely as she turned to face the wide-eyed member of the quartet that was helping them out. With an expectant look, she patiently waited for the woman to begin explaining. What followed was a short series of moments where Ragdoll seemed to focus on different parts of Kaori's body as the woman slowly circled her, making her slightly uneasy in the process.

"I know you said that your Quirk lets you know exactly where up to 100 people are as well as their strengths and weaknesses, but is this really necessary?" The young girl could feel a small bead of sweat form on the back of her neck under the Pro's piercing gaze.

"Not really." Ragdoll replied with a chipper tone. "I just thought it would be funny to make you sweat a bit." Kaori moved to reply, but the older woman raised her hand in response to continue speaking. "What I can say, however, is this. Your Quirk is very much tied to the strength of your own body. The stronger you are, the stronger your Quirk becomes. If that's all it was then training with Tiger like most of the other students would be obvious. But your Quirk is more than just that. It also has a mental component that relies on your ability to focus and think quickly in any situation. That's why training your body alone isn't the right answer. What we need to do is strengthen your brain just as much. We need to make it so that it takes longer for your headaches to occur and get in the way of using your power, and we also need to work on getting you to use it more in close-quarter situations. Your Quirk is very powerful as a ranged form of combat, but it leaves you vulnerable if a Villain is able to get close to you where you're unfamiliar with using your abilities."

Kaori's eyes widened and her jaw fell as the words continued to pour out of Ragdoll's mouth. For every aspect of her Quirk highlighted, Kaori realized just how useful a Quirk that could tell weaknesses and locations was in the right hands. At that thought, a small feeling of dread passed over her as she considered how dangerous an ability such as this would be in the hands of a Villain.

Just how much damage could someone cause if they knew exactly how to counter any Hero they encountered?

"…so that's why you'll be training with Pixie-Bob!"

"Wait, I'm sorry." Kaori shook her head to clear her thoughts at the last statement. "I think I missed part of that." Despite her off-guard stance, Kaori quickly felt herself being spun around and gently pushed in the direction of the blonde-haired member of the quartet without a second thought.

"No time for chit-chat! You have training to do and I have a BIIIIG group of people to watch over! Try not to get too scratched up by Pixie-Bob's little toys!"

"Wait, what?!"

* * *

"I was wondering when I would get a chance to work with one of you when you all showed up from fighting my beasts in the woods." Pixie-Bob started as Kaori approached her in a rather large clearing devoid of anything but flat earth and the occasional rocky outcropping. "Personally I was hoping to get a chance to work with some of the young men in your class, but beggars can't be choosers. I'll just have to make sure you get so good with your Quirk that they'll practically come flying at me for training!"

"…I think I need to find out if she's related to Yori in any way. She is SERIOUSLY boy crazy…" Kaori mumbled to herself as she figured Pixie-Bob was off in her own world much like she had been when they had first arrived the other day.

"You might want to pay a bit more attention since it'll just be you and me for a little while, sweetheart." Pixie-Bob's voice sounded much more serious all of a sudden as Kaori heard a shifting sound coming from directly behind her, her body falling flat to the ground in a prone stance seconds before a sizeable chunk of Earth went sailing over her and landed neatly in the Pro's outstretched hand. "Your reflexes seem to be quite good, though you might want to avoid talking and losing focus on your enemy in the future. Then again, that's part of the reason they have me training you as well as a few students from Class B. But until they get here it's just you and me." A dangerous gleam filled the woman's eyes as multiple blocks of dirt rose from the ground and began to float in front of her. "Try not to do anything stupid while we train, okay?"

All Kaori could do was try to gulp as her mouth rapidly became dry at the face of her newest challenge.

* * *

What followed was a grueling regimen where Kaori was forced to constantly block or counter any objects thrown at her, as her feet had been held to the ground thanks to Pixie-Bob's Quirk the moment the training truly began. Being unable to dodge meant that she was forced to rely solely on her Quirk and applying it in whatever way she could to stop the rocks from slamming into her painfully. Not to say that some didn't still hit, but suddenly she was being forced to use her projections in a much closer proximity than she was used to. Between having to form and deconstruct projections of her limbs at a much more rapid pace than she was comfortable with, it wasn't long before she began to feel a dull ache form in her skull. But even then, the onslaught continued and Kaori was forced to push through the unpleasant feeling to keep making the projections as quickly as she could. But as time went on, Pixie-Bob manipulated chunks of Earth closer and closer to Kaori's body until she had barely any time to react at all before clumps of dirt were bouncing off of her body faster than she could create projections.

"I can't keep them back if you make them come at me from so close, you know!" Kaori shouted towards the focused woman as she continued to manipulate the earth around them.

"That's the whole point of the training! You're supposed to be able to handle enemies that get close to you as well; otherwise you're just a sitting duck!"

"And how am I supposed to do that?! I've never used my Quirk to fight someone close to me before! That's why I took martial arts training!"

"Yes, but not every Villain is going to be easily subdued by a judo chop! You need to consider a different approach than you normally would when you're outside your comfort zone! Think about your Quirk! What exactly does it do, and what are you able to do with it?"

"You think I don't understand my own Quirk?! I've had it since I was a kid! My parents showed me how to use it ever since the day I first discovered it!"

"Yes, but part of your training is also on your focus! And that's a two-way street! It's just as easy to focus TOO MUCH on a single aspect of your Quirk and not every facet of it!"

" _Focusing too much on a single part of my Quirk?_ " Kaori wondered to herself as she struggled to block another chunk of dirt thrown at her. " _What is she even getting at? My Quirk lets me create extensions of my body that I can use to fight off Villains at a distance. How am I supposed to apply something like that in close-quarters? I can't use it like some of the other Quirks I've seen. I may be using my own body to fuel it but I can't just throw it on like a…blanket…_ "

For a brief moment, as though in slow motion, Kaori felt her eyes drawn to an outstretched hand that was currently aglow from her Quirk as a small projection tried to form in the path of an oncoming clump, only to be late as the obstacle soared past and neared her chest. For a split second, she could have sworn she heard a clicking sound as something suddenly just…made sense. For so many years Kaori had focused on the mimicking properties of her Quirk that she had inherited from her mother and only lightly on the size component of her father's Quirk to apply whenever she created the projections. But that was where she had it wrong. Because her father was gone, she had unknowingly favored the side of her Quirk that represented the parent she still had around as a role model. She had almost completely ignored the half that belonged to a man that had been gone from her life for over five years. But no longer. That day…she realized just how much she had to thank her father for giving her in the time that she had with him. Not just his love, or his drive, or his guidance. **But his power.**

In the span of a few short seconds before the clump of dirt slammed into her chest, Kaori's eyes seemed to flash as her outstretched left hand began to glow a much deeper shade of purple than her Quirk usually produced. Before her very eyes, that glow deepened even further and almost seemed to solidify around her arm, wrapping it in an almost protective feeling as the chunk flew closer and closer towards her. With barely any time to spare, Kaori simply threw aside any worries and relied purely on her instincts as they screamed to simply put her hand in front of the projectile. The young girl braced herself as her glowing hand shifted into the path of the dirt clump, fulling expecting a painful impact with her outstretched hand in in a matter of seconds.

What happened instead was the dirt clump impacting the purple glow coming from her arm and stopping inches IN FRONT of her actual hand. As though her own Quirk had protected her despite her having never created a projection in front of it.

"Looks like Ragdoll was right again about someone's hidden potential. I never get tired of seeing just how effective that girl's Quirk is...Now if only she could find the right type of guy for me with it some day."

Kaori was simply speechless as she stared wide-eyed at the glow continuing to emanate from her hand and arm, completely oblivious to Pixie Bob once again devolving into one of her boy talks. The warm, protective feeling she always felt was still there , but with something else she wasn't familiar with. An experimental clenching of her hand caused the light bending around it to clench as well. She then leaned down to try and pick up some dirt with her hand, but was instead was met with some form of resistance when her hand was a few inches away from the ground despite the only thing between her hand and the ground was the glow that continued to shine away. With an almost hopeful look to her face, Kaori started to clench her hand against the resistance, as the glow scratched against the loose dirt and debris and picked some of it up as she stood back up.

Tears filled her eyes as her knees wobbled slightly, with only a fraction of her mind able to keep her from collapsing as the rest was focusing solely on the construct around her forearm. Despite him being gone for so long and without his mentor-ship to guide her like she had always dreamed of, Kaori had managed to finally learn something from her father that she had never imagined her Quirk would be capable of doing.

She had created her Quirk just like she did normally, but with one caveat – she had created it around HERSELF, giving her the ability to effectively enlarge her limbs just like her father's Gigantification Quirk or Kendo's Big Fist. But in truth, it wasn't just those two that had inspired her to take this step. Had she never met some of the people she had at U.A. it was hard to say if she would have been able to keep the passion that had allowed her to get this far. And now…it was time to see just how much that passion had allowed her to grow. With a quick swipe of her other hand across her eyes, Kaori got back on to her feet as Pixie-Bob gave her a concerned look.

"You okay, sweetie? I know we've been going at it for a bit, but if you REALLY need to take a break that badly we can stop for a few minutes. The point of this camp is to make you all stronger after all, not make you incapable of moving a muscle."

"No…no I'm fine." Kaori shook her head as she stared at the Pro with a renewed determination. "If anything, I couldn't be more ready for round two to try out this new trick."

Pixie-Bob smiled in response with an approving nod. "That's good. But it's still probably a good idea for you to take a break for a little bit just to relax some of that tension you're bound to be having in your head from using your Quirk so rapidly up until this point. Plus…" Her attention turned to something behind Kaori as her stance relaxed. "We've got some visitors that I have to attend to."

Kaori turned with a curious expression to see who it was, only to be met face-to-face with some of Class B's students as they had just arrived for their own individualized training. Of that group Kaori recognized Shiozaki amongst them, whom she gave an acknowledging nod before Pixie-Bob began to explain what each of them would be doing.

Besides…she was likely going to be a little distracted for a while as she glanced down at her now bare arm due to her Quirk having been shut off for the time being. Whatever it was she had just tapped into…there was bound to be more of it deep inside of her. It was just a matter of how much more she could draw out now that she had found another use for her powers. For a fleeting moment, Kaori could even swear she could feel her father watching over her from the beyond with a proud smile on his face.

As of that moment...Kaori had never felt more capable in her entire life.

* * *

 **Big development this chapter in terms of progression but also the purpose of the camp. Obviously we know that between this and the sessions that happen later on with signature moves that everyone develops new uses for their Quirks as well as new tricks and combinations to try out in future battles. And I've loved the idea of Kaori eventually being able to strengthen herself much like a Gigantification Quirk would, but with a personal spin because of the differences and similarities working together. As for what's next?**

 **I think we all know what's next for the wannabe heroes.**


	30. Chapter 30

For the remainder of the day, Kaori and the students assigned to Pixie Bob from Class 1-B continued to push their Quirks to the limit in order to strengthen their abilities. Obviously, due to being up against a professional who had been in the business for likely longer than many of them had even had use of their Quirks, there was never any question about the fact that they would never actually lad a hit on her. But that wasn't the point of the training anyways as she continued to send wave after wave of her earthen creations at each of the students to see just how much they could push their Quirks before tiring out.

For Kaori, as it turned out, using her Projections as a layer over her own arms proved to be increasingly effective though the odd sensation of her own limb being wrapped in the projection was still a feeling she was getting used to. This proved true numerous times as she found her Quirk evaporating at inopportune moments whenever she swung out an arm to block one of Pixie-Bob's attacks. As it stood she HAD discovered a new way to fight, but now she had to learn how to work with it due to the strange new feeling it came with.

* * *

Finally, the end of the day's training came around and everyone was told to break for their dinner – something that they would have to make for themselves rather than be fed by the Pussycats like they had been the night before after fighting their way through the woods. Todoroki ended up being a big help for those in the class that ended up having a harder time getting their fires to start. Though Kaori couldn't help but feel a little on the uneasy side at the chant Mina seemed to be cheering as she knelt next to Todoroki while he was lighting their fire.

"Do I need to keep an eye out for you trying to light your acid on fire or something, Mina?" Kaori stated with uncertainty laced in her voice as she felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of her side – and not from the days training or Todoroki's fire, either.

"Nah, I just like the way it looks when it's going like that." Her eyes it up after a few seconds as she whirled to Kaori with an excited look. "But wouldn't that be so cool though?! Just put down a bit of my acid on some firewood or something and then BAM! Instant bonfire!"

"I feel like you might be missing a few things," Kirishima mentioned as he called over from his pit, where Bakugou was continuing to try and light their fire through explosions. Needless to say, all they really had was charcoal and no real flame at the moment. "Like maybe some matches or something to actually light the fire."

"Don't encourage her, Kirishima!" Kaori's eyes widened as she latched one hand onto Mina's shirt before she could start walking over to Yaoyorozu for one of her matches. "I'd like to ACTUALLY have some food to eat tonight rather than have our oven fall apart because she melted it in her excitement!"

"Aw, come on, Kaori! Have a little faith in your gal pal!" Mina exclaimed as she put on a faux pout. "I wouldn't do anything silly like ruin our supper over this, I would just grab a few spare twigs and branches that are lying around and do it off in the corner. Nothing serious. I'm not an idiot after all."

Jirou chuckled from next to Yaoyorozu. "Says one of the people in our class that are stuck with night classes."

"Hey, low-blow!" Mina's expression went full frown as she sulked a bit while Kaori tended to the curry with a laugh of her own.

"At least you don't have to do it alone." Kaori tried to sympathize with Mina as they waited. "You've still got Kaminari, Sero, and Sato that are taking them with you. That's better than being stuck on your own with that weirdo from 1-B that seems to hate all of us."

"Yeah, I guess." Mina shrugged as the two of them noticed that their curry was starting to boil, signifying it being close to done. "But who cares about that, it's time to eat!"

* * *

The following day was much like the first, with all of them going off to their different training sessions to continue using their Quirks at maximum output. As the day went on, Kaori felt herself getting a little more used to using her Quirk closer to her as well as on her own body parts. What she soon started to discover however was a new issue that became rapidly more noticeable as she tried to use her Quirk on her own body.

"I have GOT to see about making some adjustments to my costume if I'm going to fight like this…" Kaori grumbled to herself as she knelt to remove her shoes and socks, favoring a barefoot approach despite the awkward feeling of the dirt and rocks under the skin of her feet.

Now that she knew she could use her Quirk over-top of her body, she had considered moving onto using more than her hands and arms and employing more of her martial arts training she had gotten with Maki into her technique. This had proven incredibly unpleasant as any time she had tried to use her Quirk on her feet there would be only a dull glow coming from her footwear, thus preventing her power from fully manifesting like it should.

" _How in the heck am I supposed to use my Quirk on my feet while I'm wearing shoes though…_ " Kaori thought to herself as she stretched her toes out a bit and took a familiar stance as Pixie Bob continued to throw around earthen objects of varying shapes and sizes. " _I can't just run around barefoot whenever I'm trying to rescue people. There are too many scenarios where I would just get myself hurt because of terrain or obstacles that I couldn't just walk over. And I can't just always use my Quirk to make pathways for myself, no matter how much I improve my ability to make it more often. It would be an unnecessary use of my Quirk when it could be used for better things._ "

Those thoughts would have to wait for when they returned to U.A. however, as they still had training to do for the remaining time they had left that day.

* * *

"It sucks that Ashido couldn't join us for this, huh?" Kirishima mentioned as he and Kaori walked through the dark woods, both of them on the lookout for any surprises from Class 1-B.

"To be honest, I'd almost take doing remedial classes and getting less sleep if it let me skip this." Kaori grumbled as she twitched from a nearby howl coming from within the woods. This was shortly followed by a sharp shriek of fright as they came across one of Class B's members, only for her to silently sink into the ground like a ghost. "I HATE this kind of thing."

"I don't get it though," Kirishima shrugged his shoulders as the two of them neared the midway point where Ragdoll was set to be waiting with the papers that had their names on them. "How can you be so neutral about some of the other stuff we've seen and still be startled by stuff like this?"

"I've always had a weak skin for jump scares and horror movies. Mina's lucky that I put up with them whenever she puts them on during movie nights. I don't know why it is." Kaori shuddered as she cleared her throat a bit. "I just don't handle them well no matter what I try."

"Well we'd better hurry and get to the hallway point, otherwise Yaoyorozu and Aoyama will catch up to us with how often you keep getting startled and stop moving." Kirishima waved at the air as a frown crossed his face. "Plus I just want to get out of these woods since it's starting to smell kind of gross."

"Good to know it's not just me then." Kaori stated as the two of them neared where Ragdoll was supposed to be waiting. "I thought something smelled off. To be honest I feel bad for Class B since they have to tough it out in this until we're all done going through."

"Yeah, but at least it's thinning out as we move. It must only be back in the part of the woods we came from." Kirishima stretched out his arms with a yawn as they spotted a large clearing along the path. "I can't wait to get back and call it a night; I'm already starting to feel a little tired."

Kaori waved at him lazily as her eyelids started to grow heavy. "Don't yawn like that; you'll make me sleepy, too." She paused with a short yawn of her own. "I'd like to make it OUT of these woods before I collapse from exhaustion thank you very much. Anything would be comfier than eating dirt for the millionth time today."

"Well then, we'll grab our paper from Ragdoll and then sprint the rest of the way back to wake ourselves up." Kirishima stated as he clapped both hands to his cheeks. "We'll even make a race out of it. First one back has to…" Kirishima scratched his chin with one finger as he raised his head to look slightly upwards while the treeline broke around them. "…you know I hadn't really thought of anything we could make a contest out of it."

"I wouldn't bother with that, Kirishima." Kaori stated, suddenly with more energy to her voice as well as a nervous tilt to it. "We need to get back to the others as quickly as possible and tell them that something is wrong. Look."

Kirishima lowered his head to look around the clearing before getting a confused look. "I don't get it. I don't see anything out of the ordinary except for some papers over there." His eyes widened moments later in realization as Kaori nodded.

"Exactly." Her face grew more serious as the two looked over to the stack of papers discarded on the ground in pile. "Ragdoll's not here."

The two of them turned to sprint back in the direction they came from to tell those not already heading back to turn around, only to be stopped as a voice filled their head all of a sudden.

" **Everyone! Those of us outside the forest are currently under attack by two villains! There is also a good chance there are more out there! Anyone able to should return to camp as quickly as possible and avoid any confrontations as much as possible! If you happen to encounter an enemy, run away from them as quickly as you can!"**

"Well, I guess that settles that!" Kirishima shouted as he turned to start running along the path to take them back to the lodge. He turned back a moment later to look back at Kaori with an anxious look as she hadn't moved since Mandalay's announcement. "Kaori, come on! We need to get out of here and back to the others before any Villain's find us!"

"…You're right. But we should keep an eye out for clues about Ragdoll just in case as we go. Maybe we'll be lucky and find her on the way back." Kaori's eyes fell back on a tree close to where the papers lay scattered on the ground before she turned and started running alongside her friend. A tree that just so happened to have a small red blotch on its bark as well as a few strands of what looked to be blue hair. "I don't want to think about what these Villains are capable of if they can take out a Pro without much of a fight."

"Why wait, though?" A male voice came from just outside the treeline. "After all, I've been meaning to meet you one of these days, Miss Nomi. Or do you prefer something a little more casual?"

The foliage seemed to part of its own accord as a man dressed in a black knee-length coat stepped into view from out of the shadows. His expression was neutral but with a curious look to his eyes as she gazed on the two of them without any sort of aggressive stance.

"How do you know who I am?" Kaori felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she took a defensive step closer to Kirishima so that the two of them weren't far from each other.

"I think the better question would be how I could not?" The man calmly replied with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "After all, it shouldn't come as any surprise that I know who you are…"

"After all, it's only fair that you get to meet your father's partner, isn't it?"

* * *

 **Annnnnnd there's the hook I've been waiting for for months practically since I first came up with this story. I'd say more, but then that would risk spoiling some of the events and conversations that have yet to take place. You'll just have to wait and see I guess~**


	31. Chapter 31

**Sorry for the slight delay to this chapter being posted. It was Black Friday weekend where I work so there wasn't really any energy left by the end of the day to open up this chapter and review it for posting. The sales and lines might not be as crazy here in Canada as some of the horror stories you hear about in the US, but it was still pretty touch and go. Either way, here's the continuation of the last chapter as well as a little exposition/time-skippery to set up for the next one.**

* * *

"No…there's no way…"

The man standing before the two of them simply gave a pointed look as if to say "Really?" before he continued to speak.

"And why not?" He asked with an almost amused tone. "I never was caught after all. I simply walked away and disappeared into obscurity. Well, that and some clever work to erase as many records of me as possible so that when I attempted to rejoin society I wouldn't immediately have a witch hunt on my hands."

Kaori could barely process what was going on even as Kirishima moved in an awkward shuffle to get closer to her side. Her voice was weak as she struggled to push out the words that came to mind. "But…why?"

The man's eyes immediately zipped to Kirishima as he continued to move. "I'd recommend that you stay put, boy. I'm not here to shed blood needlessly like some of the others that came here. So stay quiet, and listen to the adult while he speaks." He turned back to face Kaori with a raised brow. "You'll need to be a little more specific. You wouldn't happen to mean right now…or would you be referring to a few years ago?"

Kaori could only nod her head slowly as the lump in her throat continued to keep her from speaking much. Her head was currently swimming as the visions of fire, debris and blood came back to her once again in a rush. It took everything in her power to not curl up into a ball or simply run away at the first chance. She knew that either one could easily lead to some serious consequences given what she knew of the Quirk that the man in front of them possessed.

"…Can't say I'm surprised," the cloaked man stated with a strangely disappointed look. "You'd think that your first instinct as a hero-in-training would be "where's the person you captured?" but the past DOES have a way of haunting us, doesn't it?"

"Leave her alone!" Kirishima snapped as his face took on an ugly expression while he glared at the man. "What did she ever do to you to deserve this?!"

"Her? Nothing." His eyes never moved off Kaori as he responded to Kirishima's question. "But because of the ideas and morals put into her head by her idiot father, I have to make sure she understands the potential risks and mistakes associated with her so called "dream"."

Kaori's mind seemed to clear of its haze somewhat as the man belittled the memory of her father, allowing her at least a little piece of mind that she was suddenly able to focus more.

"Mistakes?" Kaori asked with a harsh tone to her voice. "Is that all it was to you? All those years spent working alongside my father and Nozomi and you consider it a MISTAKE?!"

The man's eyes widened as a smirk split across his face. "I was wondering what would finally set you off and show some emotion. Now we can ACTUALLY talk like civilized people." His expression returned to its neutral state as he continued, his hands still calmly sitting at his sides. "As for the years I worked alongside people I called friends? I would never trade moments like those. No, our mistake was trying to be _Heroes_ _fighting for peace and justice_. It was only a matter of time before shit hit the fan and we wound up so far in over our heads that it stopped being funny." His eyes gained a warning look to them for a brief instant. "You never stopped to consider just WHY I came to your home causing a scene that night, did you?"

"You came to kill my father, that's what." Kaori felt a bead of sweat trail down the back of her neck as she tried to find a way out of their situation without making it obvious to the devil from her past currently speaking.

"And this is why you should always hear both sides of the situation before jumping to conclusions." The man rolled his shoulders with a groan as he continued. "Yes, I killed your father. But that wasn't the main purpose of my visit. You see, he and I had something to discuss but he refused to listen despite my protests and warnings, so really he brought his fate on himself. Just be glad I wasn't forced to immediately follow up with you and your mother, frankly."

"Thank you?!" Kaori screamed even as she felt her body tremble in fear despite her forced bravado. "Because of you I spent the last few years in a shell!" The man began to turn back towards the woods with a roll of his eyes. "I was too afraid to go anywhere near Hero work because of what I saw it do to my family!" He then froze as Kaori continued to yell at his back. "It's only because I saw some ordinary person take a massive risk that I remembered my dream!"

"…You should have stayed in your shell in that case. This path you're choosing to follow will only end in pain if you don't give up now."

Kaori's eyes burned bright as she activated her Quirk, her right hand bursting into a violet hue as she made a tight fist. "The only thing I see on my path right now is putting you in prison where you belong!" As she swung her fist forward, an enlarged projection of her fist the size of a dumpster sailed towards the man's back. Time seemed to slow as his body slowly started to face back towards the two of them; his gaze suddenly filled with rage as his own right hand leapt up from his side, his fingers spread wide open as he faced his palm towards her. In that very instant, Kaori's projection ceased moving as she felt her entire body lock up. The man's face showed a fury Kaori had never witnessed before in her life, even compared to the evil looks on the faces of the criminals she had encountered while working with Blink earlier in the year.

"I will give you the same warning I gave Akiyama all those years ago before I came to visit you all at your home." His expression seemed almost pleading for a few moments as he continued. "Stop this. Let it go before you find yourself too caught up in a series of events you could never hope to escape if you dared dream of it. You'll thank me later if you do." The rage returned, albeit more subdued as he paused for a few moments while glancing between the two of them. Kaori felt a strange force exerted on her body in an unpleasant fashion as he then closed his hand into a fist. "I can't have either of you following me though. I came to do a job, and I won't have the murdering of innocent children on my conscience."

As the man finished speaking his fist flared into an open gesture once more, only this time Kaori felt her body sail backwards for a few seconds before she slammed her skull into the hard bark of a tree. Her vision swam as pain racked her mind, her eyes still weakly trained on the cloaked man as he stood staring for a moment. She could barely make out his head turning towards Kirishima as words phased through her head.

"…get her back…wound won't be fatal…have to move fast…"

And then he was gone, his black cloak blending into the darkness encroaching on her vision. Moments later, Kaori felt a pair of strong arms cradle under as she felt herself lifted up before she could vaguely see the trees rushing by. She thought she could hear words speaking to her in a familiar voice, but she couldn't for the life of her stay awake with how inviting the sensation of sleep was becoming.

* * *

Kaori's eyes opened blearily as she was met with bright lights and unfamiliar objects at first, her entire body stiff and sore as she tried to clear her vision. As she gently looked around, shapes began to form more coherently and she was able to make out the appearance of a hospital room…a sight she was starting to get a little annoyed with seeing as of late. She lifted one of her hands slowly to see how her head felt due to remembering taking an unpleasant hit after the man from her past threw her around like a toy, only to find a tight wrapping of bandages going around her head. Moments later, the door to her room opened up and various members of her class piled in all with differing looks of worry, shock, or relief when they saw that she was…relatively okay.

"Finally, you're awake." Ashido stated with relief as she leaned in and gave Kaori a tight hug. "When Kirishima brought you back with your head so banged up we weren't sure what was going to happen."

"Mina, I'm fine. Just a little tired and sore, that's all." Kaori tried to relieve her friend even as Kirishima stepped forward to bow in front of her.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to do anything that night. I knew that whatever was going on was serious for you, but I still should have tried SOMETHING to keep that guy from getting away when he did."

"You wouldn't have stood a chance if you tried, but I appreciate the thought Kirishima." Kaori looked over her classmate and noticed a few faces missing. "Where are the others?"

"Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, and Jirou are all still out cold. Midoriya's been in and out through work on his arms ever since yesterday when they brought all of the injured students in." Uraraka spoke up from the side with a look of worry on her face.

Kirishima's face grew a look of disgust. "And they managed to get away with Bakugou."

"Bakugou?!" Kaori eyes widened in shock as her head jolted back in surprise, banging the tender part of her skull into her bedframe. "Oww…." With a quick raise of her hand to show that she was still okay to those moving to check on her, she then continued. "Why would the League want him out of all of us?"

"Technically they wanted Bakugou as well as myself," Tokoyami replied with a frown. "But thanks to the intervention of Shoji, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Aoyama I was able to be freed. We…weren't lucky enough to completely prevent their intended captures."

Kaori felt her hands ball into fists. "Damnit…"

"Hey, there's nothing you could have done to stop them from getting away with Bakugou." Mina tried to calm Kaori down as she seemed to notice just how agitated her friend was getting.

"No…but I still feel responsible for what happened to Ragdoll. It was obvious from the start."

"The guy we came across captured her, yeah." Kirishima nodded in acknowledgement. "I figured it out, too. But you said yourself there was nothing we could have done to stop that guy. You saw what his Quirk was capable of."

"It doesn't stop the fact that in those moments it was like I was a little girl again. I couldn't move, I couldn't react, I could barely think. I let his being there completely stop me from doing what I should have done right away." Kaori reached up to rub at one of her eyes due to how warm they were starting to get. "I was helpless. And I never want to feel like that again. If anything, that night was a wake-up call for me. I'm not letting anything - not even the demons from my past - keep me from doing what should be done."

* * *

The following day, Kaori was still resting in her bed due to the hospital wanting to check a few more things before letting her go. She was somewhat surprised when her door opened that day, half expecting it to somehow be her mother there to scold her even though she had already spoken with her over the phone and assured her that she was okay. Instead, it was Todoroki and Kirishima, and even more strange was the fact that it was ONLY the two of them.

"Feeling better?" Kirishima opened with some awkward small talk as Kaori shrugged her shoulders with a confused look.

"Nothing to complain about. Still a little sore on the back of my head and I can't use my Quirk for as long since it makes my brain hurt after a shorter time than usual, but it'll pass. I'm more curious as to why it's just the two of you here and not everybody else like yesterday."

"We...weren't sure how the others would react to this if we just came out and said it. We're hoping to talk to Midoriya about it as well once he's not in as much pain and able to stay awake long enough."

Kaori winced at Kirishima's comment. "He's still that bad, huh? I heard that he was like a dead man walking, but I never got the chance to really see it for myself."

"Worse." Todoroki commented with his usual tone. "His arms were completely mangled and yet he still insisted on trying to move on his own."

"That guy…I swear he's going to kill himself at this rate…" Kaori's eyes lit up with remembrance as she looked at the two again with a renewed vigor. "But seriously, why are the two of you here talking to me?"

"We…might have a way to try and rescue Bakugou and Ragdoll."

"Wait, seriously?!" Kaori exclaimed before her eyes snapped to the door with a worried look. After nothing happened, she breathed a sigh of relief before turning back to the other two. "But how?"

"We overheard Yaoyorozu telling All Might and some detective that she had someone from Class B put a tracker on a Nomu that was attacking them. She gave them a device that would tell them where it is so that they could lead a rescue mission." Todoroki replied.

"…And the two of you want to ask her for another one to try and help despite the fact that the teachers would hate it."

Kirishima scratched his head awkwardly. "Well when you put it like that it-"

"I'm in."

"Wait, really? Just like that?"

"Absolutely." Kaori's eyes took on a more determined look. "I said yesterday that I was done letting anything from my past or present slow me down. So this is me stepping up to the plate. Besides, my Quirk is perfect for a snatch and grab sort of rescue if all goes well. Plus I know how much you want to get Bakugou out of there Kirishima. I may not be a fan of his attitude, but he's still your friend. I owe it to Ragdoll to help her out as well anyways."

Todoroki nodded as Kirishima gave Kaori a thankful look. "Then it's settled. Now we just have to wait and fill in Midoriya when he's conscious."

* * *

"No, Iida, it's not like that!" Midoriya exclaimed to his friend two nights later as they all stood outside the hospital. "We're not going to just go break the rules-"

His words were sharply cut off as one of Iida's fists swung out and slammed into the side of his jaw, cutting his words off as quickly as they were delivered.

"You don't think that I'm sorry?! That I'm worried?!" Iida exclaimed as his fists lay clasped at his sides. "I'm one of the class presidents! It's my job to worry about the rest of my classmates! But it's not JUST Bakugou I'm worried about! Seeing you with all of these injuries, I projected the image of my brother on you. My brother, beaten on the floor! If all you achieve by going rogue is that you end up like my brother…that you end up irrecoverable, then I…" His hands reached out to grasp tightly onto his friends shoulders. "Are you saying you don't care about how much I wring my hands over you?! Are you saying…that you don't care about how I feel at all…?"

"Iida."

Everyone's heads turned as Todoroki spoke up from their vantage point of the debate between the two.

"We have no intention of just busting down their front door and invading either."

Kirishima stepped forward to speak as well. "We'll rescue him without getting into any fights. A stealth mission! The kind of mission that's available to newbies like us, a way to "fight" that doesn't break any rules!"

"Why do you think I'm here?" Kaori spoke up as she flashed her eyes and made a projection with her hand for show for a moment. Her expression grew more sympathetic as she continued. "I know what it's like to never get the thought of a hurt family member or friend out of their head more than anyone else here. But if you don't want to see it happen to anyone else, then you need to take a stand rather than sit by even when someone tells you to do it for your own good. Otherwise that memory will never stop haunting you."

"I trust Todoroki and Kaori…however!" Yaoyorozu spoke up from her corner. "In case the worst should happen so that I may be there to stop you, I've come to accompany all of you."

"I…I don't get it myself, but…" Midoriya spoke up, gently at first as though trying to pick out the right words. "When he told me my hands could reach him…I just couldn't push that thought away…" His face filled with pure determination as he stared back at Iida, resolve etched into his expression. "I can't help but think about saving him!"

Iida's shoulders slumped as he heaved a sigh of defeat. "Looks like we'll never see eye to eye…and if that's the case…"

"Then take me with you."


	32. Chapter 32

**Apologies for this chapter being just a ~little bit on the late side compared to usual. This time of year is a tad unpredictable for me given how sporadic retail can be when you've got people coming in spurts to get their last Christmas presents or waiting until the last minute to get their shopping done (piece of advice, don't do that; your chances of finding exactly what you want drop exponentially). Also apologies for this chapter being a little on the shorter side as well as not being overly different from the main story. Certain events just really shouldn't be messed with, but there WILL be some new interactions to occur shortly.**

* * *

"There is NO WAY I'm not getting a picture before we go." Kaori stated with an excited look as she dug through a recently purchased purse for her phone.

"Honestly, Kaori? We're trying to save Bakugo and Ragdoll and you want to take a picture?" Yaoyorozu exclaimed as she glanced over to Kirishima and Midoriya pretending to be delinquents off to the side. Both girls winced as Iida tried to be subtle and failed, though thankfully no one was really paying them much attention.

"Considering the fact that we're NEVER going to get the chance to see Midoriya dressing and acting like a total punk? I am absolutely saving this for posterity." Kaori winced once again as by habit she tried to put her phone in her pocket only to find that – as she had discovered with her "disguise" – it didn't exactly leave room to store stuff other than in the purse she had been forced to get as well.

"You know you could have chosen different clothing that might have had room for your things…as well as perhaps a little more modesty." Yaoyorozu commented as she looked over Kaori's look which comprised of her hair tied back into a ponytail which was tucked through the back of a black sports cap, a purple sleeveless blouse, white short shorts, multiple bracelets and bangles, and a pair of open-toe sandals.

"This isn't exactly normal attire for me either, Momo. But we both know in case things get dicey I'll need to have access to my Quirk. I can't really do that or even really fight at all if I'm stuck in a dress like what you've got."

"We both know that the entire reason Iida and I joined the rest of you was to PREVENT any sort of confrontation."

"Yeah but there's no guarantee that we don't still wind up in one, so I'd prefer to play it safe. The last thing any of us wants is to be captured as well after all."

"I suppose that's fair. But-"

"Hey, isn't that U.A.?"

All of their heads swiveled in fright as the students feared that they had already failed in their disguises, but after noticing where everyone was looking they turned their eyes to a large billboard…showing a scene that immediately filled them all with worry.

" _This is bad._ " Kaori thought to herself as she felt a bead of sweat start to form in the small of her back as she watched. " _I still remember some of the stories dad used to tell me about the media. They never pull any punches with the type of questions they tend to ask, and there's no way they won't go right for the throat and bring up Bakugo's capture or the attack on the camp as though it was something the teachers could have anticipated. It's not fair how much they focus on the negatives sometimes._ "

Kaori's thoughts were quickly derailed as she felt a tugging motion on her arm, her eyes turning to Kirishima as he waited for her to follow while the others started to move onwards. A quick nod of her head had her following after the others as they forged ahead towards their destination. It wasn't long before they came upon a tight looking back alley a few streets down.

* * *

"This is…a little snug for my liking." Kaori winced as they all shuffled down the narrow passage to try and find some sort of vantage point.

"Agreed." Yaoyorozu commented from just ahead of her. "I'm worried I might get stuck if it gets anymore cramped at this rate."

As everyone made it to what looked like a set of barred windows on the side of the building they were targeting, they all pondered over how they would see inside at this time of day.

"I could always make a pair of night-vision goggles for us to use…"

"No need." Kirishima stated as he pulled an object out of his jacket. "I brought one myself when I thought earlier about what we could bring to help with our rescue."

"Alright then, Midoriya and Kirishima can get on top of Iida and Todoroki's shoulders to see-"

"No. I think Kaori should be the one to do it, not me." Kirishima interrupted as he stretched out his arm to pass the device to Kaori.

"It's YOUR goggles though, Kirishima, you should be the one to use them." Kaori responded as she tried to push the tech back towards her friend.

"No, he's right." Midoriya spoke up. "Out of everyone in our class, your Quirk is the most heavily reliant on what you're directly able to see and because of that you've spent more time than any of us trying to spot the most minor details when it comes to an area. I've seen it during some of our classes."

"Fine." Kaori stated as she climbed onto Iida's shoulders carefully. She then switched on the goggles as she placed them over her eyes to begin scanning the interior of the building. "Just give me a moment t- HOLY SHIT!" Kaori nearly lost her footing on top of Iida's shoulders for a moment before righting herself and taking heavy breaths as sweat beaded more heavily on her brow. Her hand reached out to pass Midoriya the goggles next. "You need to see what's in there. It's not good. Over on the left side of the building towards the back."

Midoriya looked in the direction Kaori instructed for a few moments before his body went tense and he looked back towards everyone with a worried look as well. "Noumus…there's a bunch of them just sitting there…"

"One was bad enough when they attacked the school. Then there were the others during the incident in Hosu." Iida commented with a frown. "This is too much. We need to leave no-"

Suddenly, they were all assaulted by a strong gust of wind as the sound of shattering concrete and crushed metal filled the air. All of their eyes turned and widened with surprise as they noticed Mt. Lady and a bunch of other Heroes standing in front of the building that now had a massive hole in it.

"It's the Pros…" Midoriya stated with a small sense of awe despite the circumstances. "Mt. Lady, Gang Orca, Best Jeanist, even Mr. Tora is there with them."

The group watched for a few moments from their hiding spot as the Pros and police scoured the area before they appeared to find something. They all were discussing the situation with each other as they scanned over the area and bound the Noumus that were currently inactive. Kaori watched the fourth member of the Pussycats the most as he moved about, fairly certain she knew why he was here in particular. It wasn't long before he started to move quickly as he reached past some debris and pulled something out of the rubble.

"We have you now, Ragdoll, are you alright?"

Kaori couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.

Iida breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to the group after Kaori had hopped down from his shoulders. "It seems the Pros acted much quicker than even we were capable of. Let's get out of here. There's no need for us to be here any longer."

"They mentioned something about "All Might's group"." Midoriya stated. "They must be the ones rescuing Kacchan."

"If that's the case with All Might on the other end, then that should have us all the more at ease. Now, let's make haste before we're spotted accidentally."

"I'm sorry, Tora. I've been eyeing that Quirk of hers for some time." A mysterious voice came from the shadows of the rubble and debris, stopping everyone in their tracks as their curiosity got the better of them. "It's a good one. Perfect in fact. So I chose to make it my own."

"STOP RIGHT THERE! DON'T MOVE!" Gang Orca demanded as Kaori felt a growing sense of dread in the core of her being. Some sort of feeling she was starting to get was practically screaming at her to get the others and get out of there. But she was too curious as to who the voice belonged to properly listen to it and follow its advice while the Pros continued to try and halt the person that seemed to be approaching. Best Jeanist lashed out moments later as he appeared to bind a man in a dark suit just within visibility. There was something dangerous to the way he spoke even as he was bound by one of the most well-known heroes.

"After so much work, I've finally gotten Tomura to think on his own. To begin to LEAD on his own." The man seemed to pause for a moment before continuing. "So if you could, I'd very much like it if you ceased your interference."

It was at that moment that Kaori suddenly felt herself frozen in place from the mere presence of the man over the wall. For all of her life, she had thought the feelings of fear and the visions of death she had witnessed as a child would be the worst things she would ever experience. But whoever this man was…it was so much worse. The words he spoke next refused to help as Kaori's ears picked them up.

"Now then…shall I deal some death?"


	33. Chapter 33

**Fantastic. Somehow I go from taking a little bit of a break around Christmas and New Year's to just straight up forgetting to post this update for nearly two weeks beyond what I originally intended. Smooth. Regardless, this one's the finally to another arc of the story that I had in mind and the next chapter will delve into the next aspect of what I wanted to get at. I'm sure anyone caught up with the show (which if you aren't WHY ARE YOU READING THIS) will know what I mean, as well as those that have delved ahead into the manga itself. As a pre-notice in regards to that as well, obviously there will come a point that this story is no longer spoiler-free. I don't intend to just stop where the anime is currently at, partly due to other things I want to get into but also because the manga has had some amazing stuff beyond what they've adapted to the show. But that's not important right now. What IS important is me FINALLY releasing this chapter for everyone.**

 **So on that note...here we go.**

* * *

Everything seemed to happen at once.

Merely seconds after the mysterious figure made their comment, an intense blast of air pressure ripped through the area in the direction of the Pro Heroes. It was only due to Best Jeanist's quick thinking that the others were left unconscious with bruises and scrapes. He wasn't as unfortunate as he took the full force of the attack, his body now lying nearly motionless on the ground amidst a gaping crater.

" _Who is this guy?!_ " Kaori's mind was in a frenzy as she stood frozen to the spot much like her friends and classmates. " _He barely moved a muscle and they're all down for the count! What kind of power is this?!_ " The way the figure had so casually decimated the Heroes numbers meant that his power had to be on another level altogether. The thought alone would normally send a chill down her spine, but even that seemed to be frozen in place as Kaori could only stand and listen to what was going on over the wall they currently hid behind. The moment didn't last long however, as the sudden sound of…splashing?...filled the air followed by the sounds of someone choking briefly before clearing their throat.

"God this shit reeks." A familiar voice caused Kaori's eyes to widen in surprise. "What is this shit, anyways?"

Bakugou, of all people, had somehow joined their current predicament. But the problem now lay in the fact that he stood on the OPPOSITE side of their hiding place, out of reach of any of them to grab him. Kaori's head managed to turn ever so slightly as she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye only to see Iida grasping firmly onto both Todoroki and Midoriya. He had made a vow back at the hospital, to be fair, so it came as no surprise that he was trying to stop Midoriya from acting too rashly. But why Todoroki? Did this also have something to do with their involvement with the Hero Killer some time back? Things seemed to get only tenser as a new figure entered the fray, barreling in from the sky like a rocket.

"I'm afraid I'll be having you give it all back, All for One!"

"I take it you've come to kill me again, All Might."

Even All Might was now here, but where did that leave the rest of them in all of the commotion?

An all-out brawl began to take place as the two titans traded blows, causing the air to ripple and shift from the force of their attacks. It seemed as though this "All for One" was intent on keeping All Might distracted while the rest of the League escaped with Bakugou, judging by the sudden appearance of a portal. Shortly thereafter, Bakugou was forced to fend for himself as the League was instructed to take him in and bring him with them. But what could they do that even All Might couldn't?

"Iida…e-everyone!" Midoriya's voice forced Kaori to turn her head to face him.

"Midoriya, you can't!" Iida snapped back.

"Yes we can! We won't be "engaging in battle" this way! We should be able to get away AND rescue Kacchan at the same time! There IS a chance!" A verbal nudge from Todoroki had the boy continuing. "Although…it also depends on what Kacchan'll do…This plan probably won't work if…if I do it." His head turned to face Kirishima in that instance. "You do it, Kirishima. You're the key to improving our odds of success. Right now, Kacchan is forced to be careful around his opponents and has to fight at a distance to avoid capture. The perfect chance is when he's more than a few steps away from all of them."

"It's risky…" Iida began with a forced tone, "but if you think about it, the risk is lessened by quite a bit…and if we do manage to retrieve Bakugou then the odds will steeply slide in our favour." He paused for a moment. "What's the plan?"

Midoriya nodded before listing the details. "First, we use mine and Iida's Quirks to build momentum against this wall here," Midoriya gestured to the wall on the opposite side of the alley from the one they were leaning against. "Then, Kirishima will use his Hardening to break a hoe through the wall. The second the path is clear you need to freeze us a path, Todoroki. Make it so that we can fly as high as possible to give us the best chance to stay out of reach. And Kaori," her eyes widened as she didn't expect to be part of Midoriya's plan up to this point, "I need you to keep an eye from down here with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu in case any of the Villains try anything to stop us. Blocking their attacks with your Projections, nudging them into a different trajectory if they try to chase after us somehow, anything you can manage to keep us safe from the rear in case the height isn't enough."

Over the course of the next few seconds, everyone got into position to act on Midoriya's plan. After they made sure it was all clear, they let loose. Within an instant the three-man team of Midoriya, Iida, and Kirishima went blazing through the sky over top of the battle in the clearing with Kirishima yelling down to Bakugou who chased after them with a chain of explosions moments later. It turned out to be a good thing that Midoriya had instructed Kaori to keep a close eye on the Villains as they moved into some sort of formation within seconds as she had to very quickly use her Quirk to try and stop a human projectile from launching straight towards the others. Had she been even a second later then the masked man that went flying would have been too far away for her to block with a hastily formed open palm directly in his path. She braced herself to do the same with her other hand due to how much it had stung to stop the first wave only to be granted relief by another Pro entering the fray and rapidly knocking out the majority of them with a few well-placed hits.

"They're clear now." Yaoyorozu's voice snapped Kaori out of her focus as she relaxed her muscles from their tense state. "The three of us should get out of here as well now that Bakugou is safe. The Pros will have it from here."

It took everything Kaori had to pull herself out of the situation and out into the street with the others from the sight she saw. The scene was FAR too similar to the same thing she had seen years prior when her father had stood off against his ex-partner. Given how he had shown up in the forest clearly with the intent to capture Ragdoll for the man that All Might was facing off against based on comments she had overheard, she winded up leaving the area that night with more questions than she had days earlier.

* * *

A short while later, Todoroki was on the phone with Midoriya as they both relayed tha everything seemed to be alright. That was…until an emergency broadcast sprung to life on various billboards lining the street showing the very area they had just escaped from. And what came next shook everyone to their core. The sight of All Might…withered and emaciated from the attacks that had been dealt to him.

Kaori felt herself go cold with fear once again as she moved alongside her classmates whilst they were ushered to safety along with all of the other people nearby. In her heart she hoped All Might would be able to win and walk away from this fight like he did every time before that. But in her mind…she only saw ever more mirrors to the night she lost her father.

"No…" Her voice weakly sounded out, loud enough for Yaoyorozu and Todoroki to turn their heads with looks of concern on their faces. "Not again…please don't let it happen again…"

And then…a miracle happened.

It was as though some sort of renewed vigor swelled up within the weakened form of the No.1 Hero as parts of his body puffed up with his telltale strength once more and he resumed fighting the fearsome villain. Then other Heroes appeared to aid All Might in what ways they could, be it retrieving any civilians caught in the debris or removing the unconscious forms of the Heroes already beaten by the Villain's attacks. Kaori felt tears well up in her eyes as All Might was granted the blessing her father hadn't on such short notice – backup. After one last stand-off, both figures seemed to prepare themselves for one final attack to decide the fate of the battle. When the smoke and dust cleared…All Might stood victorious over his unconscious foe. With the fight over, emergency teams and Heroes moved to work to try and deal with any remaining damages and/or casualties in the area given the widespread destruction caused by All for One. But that didn't stop him from leaving a simple two-word message to the world. Despite his body clearly not being as strong as it used to be, and it being obvious that he was on his last winds, he rose one hand directly at the camera.

"You're next."

It was all Kaori could do to keep moving through the crowds and not fall to her knees crying tears of relief that the man had survived.

* * *

A while later, everyone regrouped at the train station after Bakugou left with the police for questioning about the ordeal with the League of Villains. Everyone shared a few words with a few of them holding happy faces at everything having worked out. But Kaori just couldn't find t in herself to join in the cheer or even say a few words of her own. All she could do was hug her arms tightly around herself as she tried to keep herself from falling apart again and again.

"…Kaori?" Her head turned with wide eyes as she looked into Kirishima's face but she couldn't find any words due to a lump in her throat. His head turned to face Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. "What happened?"

"I…I don't know. Everything was going alright once we got away and joined the crowds being escorted away from Kamino." Yaoyorozu commented with a concerned look. "But at some point it just seemed like something snapped. It was almost like she was reliving some terrible moment from the sounds of it."

"Has she said anything to you guys since we split up?" Her normally spiky-haired friend inquired.

"Not a word. She's practically secluded herself aside from sticking in a group like we had planned." Todoroki commented.

" _Tell them the truth._ " Kaori's mind buzzed angrily at herself as her classmates talked around her with growing looks of concern. " _You've only given them partial details up until now. Yes, part of it was because you didn't know as much as you do now, but they won't stop worrying about you unless you DO SOMETHING!_ "

"It's about my dad." Kaori was surprised at how easily the words came in that moment, as were her classmates as they all turned to look at her as one.

"Wait, what?" Kirishima stated with a confused look. "How?"

"I haven't been talking because I've been too focused on now just turning into a mess and also trying to figure out what's been going on lately." Her head turned to Kirishima with a forced expression. "You remember that guy in the long back coat that we ran into in the forest the night everything went south?" A silent nod as well as more confused looks answered whether or not Kirishima had said much about the man in regards to her father to any of her classmates. Yaoyorozu had also elected to remain silent, something she was equally thankful for. For that she would need to thank the both of them later for keeping her secret as hers to tell. "I think he was working for that All for One guy. He was going on about Ragdoll's Quirk back there and how he needed to have it, and considering he captured her while the League was also going after Bakugou then at the very least they were working together in a loose sense."

"But…what does have to do with your father?" Iida asked the question on everyone else's mind.

Kaori felt her own arms instinctively wrap tighter around her as she felt her gaze trail down towards the floor. "Because…that man used to be a Hero. He used to be my dad's partner. And around six or seven years ago…he killed him. And I can't help but feel like it had something to do with All for One. I haven't been able to stop obsessing over it ever since the Pros rescued her and he he mentioned all of those about Quirks."

Suddenly Kaori felt herself wrapped in a pair of soft arms, her face shooting up to look at who it was only to have a sizable chunk of her vision blocked by Yaoyorozu's ponytail. She felt her walls begin to crumble once more as the other girl ran a soothing hand over her back.

"It's okay. All Might survived and we managed to do what we set out for. You're safe now…we all are."

And then they fell. The tears streamed forth as she clutched tightly onto the taller girls body for support and shook with cries of fear and anguish, letting out pain she had once again managed to suppress from the past few days events. After a shot while, she felt comfortable enough to pull away from the hug.

"I must look like a mess, huh?" Kaori choked out a weak laugh as she wiped at her eyes with her arm. "All of that stuff with All Might and Bakugou and here I am causing you all even more trouble with my problems."

"That's what friends and classmates do, though." Kirishima commented with some silent nods from the others. "We look out for each other."

"Either way, sorry about that." A cursory glance showed a damp spot on Yaoyorozu's shirt where Kaori had been crying. "And I'm really sorry for ruining your clothes, Yaoyorozu."

"It will wash out just fine. Besides, clearly you needed it." Her eyes lit up with a thought a moment later. "Though, if you don't mind…I'd prefer if you called me by my first name. If that's not too impolite of me to ask. After all, you insisted practically on the first day of classes that we refer to you by your first name."

Kaori felt a soft smile form on her face even as the tears continued to slip through occasionally. "Sure thing, Momo. I'd be honored." A choked laugh escaped her throat. "Look at me, I can't seem to keep it together at all tonight. First I'm crying out of fear, then I'm doing it out of relief. I don't know how you guys manage to put up with me."

As that day came to a close, Kaori knew that there will still things she needed answered. But what stood out more than anything was something she was beginning to realize more and more as the days passed since she joined the U.A. Hero Course. She had support no matter where she looked. All she had to do was ask and someone would be there to aid her if it was needed. Hopefully in the future, it would be something she would remember right away rather than having to have it be explained to her after the fact like it had each time so far. But that was just part of what it meant to be where they were right now. They were still learning, and that wasn't about to stop anytime soon.

* * *

In another part of the city, a familiar man sat in his hideaway as he leaned back to sigh in his chair.

"...He actually managed to stop him this time." His body shifted as he stood to move over to the window to gaze outside to the stars in the sky. "But at what cost..."

His eyes panned finally to a photo he had never had the heart to do anything to. A photo of three older teens all standing with their arms over each others shoulders with differing smiles on their faces. One of them, a young girl, had what was probably the smuggest smile anyone that age could carry while one of the two boys had his eyes seeming to shine right through the picture. The last one, and the one he knew best, was more subdued but still looked incredibly satisfied. His chest clenched slightly at the familiar feeling it dredged up.

"Maybe I can finally try to do something right for once...now that he's out of the way for the time being..."

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by his phone going off from within his pocket. By instinct alone he had it out and up to his ear with a practiced ease, though his eyes were quick enough to catch a glimpse of the name that showed up. In his heart he had wished that he'd disposed of this phone the moment he had finished delivering Ragdoll to All for One, but he had been instructed not to do so until everything was in the clear.

He'd never been able to deny the villain his demands, after all.

"I need to call in a favour." A dark voice came from the other end of the call, though it sounded fairly weak. "We're currently dealing with some issues and need somewhere to lay low for a while."

His face hardened as his free hand clenched into a fist at his side. "And why should I? I said that I was done once I brought the Pro in on his orders. End of story."

"Yes, I...understand that quite well. However, this is not something up for debate. We need somewhere relatively safe to recover for a day or so and you are our closest option at present."

"You really think I'll just let you waltz into MY HOME just like that?! Did you forget what my power is after getting tossed around by the Pros or something?"

The voice was quiet for a few moments though it sounded like they were straining themselves somewhat with their next words. "No...I fully understand what you are capable of."

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle as an oddly distorted sound came from directly behind him. As he began to turn in the direction of the sound, he felt a scraggly hand grip tightly on to his forearm as a disappointingly familiar face came into view.

"Sorry for butting in like this, _Puppet Master_. But we needed somewhere safe and you were the first name on the friends list."

The man knew that from the way his arm was being gripped that Shigaraki was intentionally baiting him into reacting judging by the lack of a finger touching him. But he also knew the moment he so much as twitched that he would cease to exist. That didn't stop his voice from dripping with frustration at the mention of the name he hated so much.

"Who told you that name?"

"Oh, Master did. He said it was the one you ended up using instead of keeping your Hero name when you switched sides."

"I never switched sides, you freak. I was conned into doing his dirty work or suffer like countless others had that refused him. He GAVE me that name as a collar to show his power over me. Something that doesn't exist any longer now that he's in police custody." Those final words had been a dangerous choice as he felt a fleeting but disturbing sensation as Shigaraki lightly brushed his arm with the final finger of his hand. It didn't do enough to harm him, but that sensation was one he wouldn't soon forget as he saw a fine dust of dead skin fall to his floor as well as a few hairs from the place Shigaraki had touched.

"...Master may be currently disconnected from the server, but who said we were done playing? We just need to take some time to reorganize our inventory and rethink our strategy. And this place is the perfect spot off the map that everyone else uses to keep us hidden. In other words..."

"You're not done being a member of this party yet."


	34. Chapter 34

By the time Kaori finally got home, the mental and physical exhaustion of the last few days finally set in, causing her to stumble slightly as she walked into the kitchen where her mother happened to be.

"Kaori!" Her mother exclaimed as she rushed over to wrap her up in her warm embrace. After a few moments she stepped back and pressed her with an inquisitive look that only mothers were capable of, something that Kaori knew was going to end in another heated discussion – something she really didn't want right now in any way.

"I called the hospital to see how you were doing since your phone appeared to be not receiving my calls, and imagine my surprise when they tell me you'd already checked out and left with some other kids your age." Her eyes narrowed as she firmly planted her hands on her hips. "Where. Did. You. Go?"

"I went to hang out with some of my classmates after everything that happened. We must have been in a movie when you called and I didn't get the blip on my-"

"Stop lying. You know you're as bad at it as your father was. If you had REALLY been in a movie, then you would have seen the notification right after and called me back. You aren't the type to just ignore a person like that unless you purposefully don't want to talk to them. So I'll ask again. Where were you?"

Kaori's shoulders slumped as her turned slightly towards the floor. "Mom, please, I really don't want to talk about this right now. It's been a long few days and I just need to get some rest."

"Sweetheart, I understand that the last few days have been rough. And once we talk and you have some dinner then you're free to do whatever you like. But I NEED to know what's going on so that I don't have to constantly worry about you when you aren't at U.A."

"I…" Kaori hesitated, unsure of how to proceed to first until a thought crossed her mind. "I never told you about what happened at the training camp a few days ago, remember?" She had to be careful that she didn't mention anything to do with going with the others to rescue Bakugou, thus ousting everyone in the process to an adult.

Her mother grew less accusatory as her posture relaxed somewhat, her body moving back to the food she had been preparing as she also focused on her daughter's words. "No, you told me over the phone that you wanted to wait until you got home to discuss things. And I accepted that and left you alone to rest your injuries."

"Well…the reason I didn't tell you that I had left the hospital was because I needed to take some time to think about everything." This wasn't entirely untrue but it was a lie, and Kaori knew it, however her mother didn't need to know what she had actually done. "So I left with some friends to just do nothing in particular while I tried to figure out how I was going to tell you this. In the end, I never really came up with anything special so I'll just tell it to you straight."

"I met dad's partner the night the camp was attacked. The one that killed him."

Her mother nearly dropped the cooking utensils she was holding, instead electing to hurriedly toss them onto the counter before she practically sprinted over to Kaori and started to examine every inch of her. After spending almost a full minute poking and prodding Kaori without finding anything strange, her hands stopped at Kaori's bandages still tucked neatly under her hair.

"He did that to you, didn't he?" Her mother's voice was lower than she'd ever heard before in her life.

"…Yes."

"And what else did he do?"

"Nothing physical, if that's what you mean. He mostly just spouted off stuff about dad being an idiot and me not asking so many questions like he did if I knew what was good for me. It honestly reminded me of that really typical villain stuff you see in cartoons."

Her mother seemed to stare off into the distance for a few moments before shaking her head as her posture relaxed once more and she returned to her cooking. "Just as long as you're safe, that's all that matters to me. Now if you don't mind, could you set the table while I finish getting the food ready?"

Kaori heaved an internal sigh of relief as she walked over to one of the nearby drawers. As much as she hated lying, her mother couldn't know everything that happened and she couldn't know what Kaori was currently thinking about. After all, who out of the people she knew would actually know if her father and his team had ever dealt with All-for-One at any point in the past? The only options that she could think of were either her mother – who had been purposefully tight-lipped whenever she had asked about her father's past. That left her father's teammates, one of which was a Hero that she didn't want to suddenly be on bad terms with given her being one of the only connections she still had to her father, and the man who had killed him years ago. Yeah, that a fantastic set of choices of people to talk to, wasn't it?

* * *

In the following days, Kaori and her mother read the letter that showed up from U.A. that included the brochure detailing their new dorm system they would be implementing as well as a note stating that they would be visited by faculty in regards to their decisions about their children being housed at the school. Anytime Kaori tried to press her mother to tell her what her choice had been, she had been met with silence and a calm response that she would have to wait for her teachers to arrive.

The wait was agony for her, adding to her current list of problems as she tried to piece together what she knew at this point in regards to her father, his teammates, and All-for-One. She made sure to keep the notes in a place that her mother wouldn't accidentally find them, but even then she didn't have a lot. At this point in time all it consisted of was that her father's partner had captured Ragdoll expressly for All-for-One. It didn't necessarily mean that All-for-One had anything to do with her father's death, but it was a potential option. And if that was the case, did Nozomi know anything about it? Even then, she was left with a plethora of questions and next to no answers to show for it.

Eventually the house visit came and boy did Kaori find it just as strange as when she saw it the first time, witnessing Aizawa all dressed up in a suit with his hair all tied back like it was.

"You likely already know why I'm here," Aizawa stated calmly to Kaori's mother as the two of them sat in the living room. Kaori, meanwhile, was cleaning the dishes from an early supper since her mother would have to leave a little later for a night job. "So I'll just get straight to the point. Will your daughter be staying at U.A. as per our arrangements for the dorms."

Kaori's mother was quiet as she sat with her arms and legs both crossed, her eyes simply looking ahead towards her teacher in relative silence. Kaori recognized this stance as something she had used to do on her to get her to tell the truth whenever she was being particularly stubborn in her younger years. Was it just a professionalism thing for her to sit like that with an adult she didn't know that well whenever they discussed something? For a moment Kaori could imagine an older Iida sitting like that with the light glinting off his glasses to hide his eyes. This nearly caused her to burst out laughing but thankfully all that came out was a very weak snort as she continued cleaning.

"…I'll be honest with you, were my husband still around this decision would have been very quick and simple. But he isn't due to the very profession you work in. So I had to spend most of my time these past few days figuring out exactly what my decision would be and what it could lead to." She paused for a moment as she glanced over to a family photo on a nearby coffee table. "But I didn't ignore just what this would mean to him, either. He, as well as my daughter, had high hopes that she would grow into a great Hero and work alongside him until he retired. That or go off on her own, as much as both of us would have hated to see it happen. So as much as I may dislike what it could lead to, and the choices my daughter may make…"

"I am letting her continue her studies at U.A. in the dorms."

Kaori heaved a heartfelt sigh of relief as she started walking over. "Mom, thank you, I promise I-"

"Under one VERY SPECIFIC condition." Kaori froze as her mother's tone fell similar to how it had days earlier. "If ANYTHING comes up workwise that involves an ex-teammate of my husband, either one of them, you keep. Her. Out of it."

Aizawa glanced between Kaori and her mother for a few moments before closing his eyes with a sigh. "I can't make any guarantees in light of recent events, but you have my promise. We will do everything in our power to-"

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Kaori shouted as she glared at her mother in disbelief. "Nozomi didn't do anything to deserve you not trusting her! You were even sharing a drink with her that one time she was here when I got home! The only person that doesn't deserve it is that creep that killed dad! If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have even known that it was his fault!"

"And if it weren't for her, you never would have known in the first place and been safer for it! This is not u for debate young lady, I am your mother, and I get the final say on this!"

"You still think that I would actually be safer not knowing that one of dad's old teammates is the reason he died? Do you really think that I could manage a confrontation with him if I DIDN'T know who he was and heard it from him?! No one would be in their right mind in that situation!"

"If I may?" Aizawa spoke up, drawing both ladies attention to him in an instant. "While I can promise that we can TRY to keep her uninvolved in any events that have to do with any previous teammates of your husband, we have no reason to not allow her to at least work with Blink if she winds up doing so through the proper channels. It would defeat the purpose of the Hero program and potentially affect her ability to grow as an individual. Not to sound rude or accusatory, but that sort of logic cannot be tolerated. Not with how things are now."

" _Mr. Aizawa I could hug your weird sense of logic right now._ " Kaori thought to herself as she turned her head to face her mother. It was at that moment that she fully understood what people meant when they said she had her mother's temperament. The way her eyes stared forward towards Aizawa, the tense look in her shoulders, it was exactly how she had seen herself in the mirror at times if she was having a bad day.

"Mom," Kaori started as a final plea to her mother. "I've told you before I'm not stupid enough to seek out a problem with the guy that was capable of killing dad. It's no contest that he would beat me in a fight with ease. Plus I have no intention of visiting death anytime soon. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"…Fine. I won't force any sort of restrictions on you." Her mother began after a brief silence. "But if I find out you got yourself into a situation involving either of those two that you could have easily avoided…then don't be mad if I pull you out of U.A."

Inside, Kaori knew that one day that very type of altercation could happen. But in that moment, it was a fleeting thought compared to being allowed to continue training to be a Hero.

"Thank you, mom." Kaori turned to bow to Aizawa. "And thank you Mr. Aizawa."

"Don't thank me yet. You kids still have a lot to learn at this point."

* * *

 **Is there some way to attach a bell to your brain to remind you of when you're supposed to do things? Seriously, I meant for this to go up like a week ago but I think if I could reasonably blame anything it would be the Anthem demo these past two weekends. I can't wait for that game to come out, but that doesn't mean I should be allowed to get away with forgetting regular updates. Haven't had a great run of that so far this year. Hopefully since I've got a week off work to visit family in the city next week I'll have some time at some point in there to do the next update, but we'll have to wait and see on that one. Regardless, with this out of the way we should get back to more Quirk-related things next chapter. After all...there's a License Exam coming up that Kaori doesn't yet know the details around.**


	35. Chapter 35

The day Kaori returned to the U.A. campus alongside her classmates, her heart nearly stopped for a moment when Aizawa commented on how close most of them had come to being kicked out of the Hero Course. How could she have been so stupid to forget that the teacher's would have known of their involvement in rescuing Bakugou?

The evening proved far more relaxing as everyone was able to let their hair down, so to speak, by means of the room contest that a few of the other girls saw fit to create. Kaori could only smile and shake her head in amusement at Mina's way to break the ice of all of them practically living together now. When it had come time for everyone to see what her room looked like, she wasn't overly surprised at the reactions she got from people commenting on how a portion of her room was solely dedicated for workout equipment. Kaminari, being as cocky as he always was, boasted about how much he was capable of lifting in a way to try and sound impressive – this immediately resulted in Kaori raising an eyebrow in challenge and loading up his supposed amount and then some…and then proceeding to lift it with only a bit of effort on her part. He tried to excuse himself stating that it made sense she could lift more with how her Quirk was directly attached to her own physical strength, but he had already been outed at that point, much to his disappointment.

Jirou had rewarded her with a subtle fist bump as they followed everyone to the next room towards the back of the pack.

That night, Kaori felt her throat clench up tightly as Tsuyu cried out an apology for her comments and actions before they had all gone to rescue Bakugou. The first thing that immediately came to mind was holding onto the girl in a hug, much the same as Yaoyorozu had done for her when she poured out the truth surrounding her father's death days prior.

"You did what you thought was right. No one blames you for that." Kaori leaned back as she gave the frog girl a soft smile. "We never stopped being your friend, Tsu."

That moment alone had made Kaori realize how in some ways, she had been acting incredibly selfish lately in the ways she been behaving. She had never stopped to consider how some of her own friends were handling what had happened and how they were dealing with it as well. She had no doubts that she had been justified in seeking out a friend with everything she had been through but that didn't mean she was allowed to just forget that everyone else had also experienced those events. The only thing that saved her was the added trauma of reliving some of her darkest moments years prior.

In many ways…she was also glad for what had happened. Yes, it sucked to have a piece of her past thrown back in her face like a landmine, but this also presented a rare opportunity to get even closer with her friends than she'd had a chance to previously. She still kept in touch with her elementary friends, like Chi and Yori, but they had spent years growing up together and knowing each other. This was simply a way for her to grow closer to her new friends faster as a means of "catching up".

* * *

The following day, they were immediately back into the swing of things at U.A.

"As I mentioned yesterday, the next thing we're focusing on is your provisional licenses." Aizawa stated as he leaned over his little podium at the front of the classroom. "Given how they are directly involved with life and death situations, the test to get them is quite difficult. The average passing rate for these tests is usually around 50%. Because of that," as he began, Midnight, Cementoss, and Ectoplasm all stepped into the classroom. "Starting today each one of you will be working towards devising at least two super moves!"

Once everyone had assembled in their costumes at Gym Gamma, they all listened carefully as the teachers explained how their super moves would be their trademarked "ace-in-the-hole" moves that would allow them any sort of advantage in a serious situation. Some of Kaori's classmates essentially had a move like that, such as Iida's "Recipro Burst" that gave him a huge blast of speed in a short time. When Midnight also described Kamui Woods "Lacquered Chain Prison" as another such move, Kaori couldn't help but wonder if she could somehow do something similar by pushing the limitations of her own Quirk. Sure, it was limited to the number of appendages she had and so her odds of bagging over half-a-dozen Villains at once was fairly unlikely, but that didn't mean it was entirely out of the question. She then remembered back to when Ragdoll had been using her earthen creations on herself and a bunch of the other students and when she had instructed her to try using her Quirk differently. With each of those thoughts running through her head, Kaori calmly followed after one of the Ectoplasm clones towards one of the different platforms Cementoss had created for them to train on. It came as no surprise when she was instructed to ascend to the highest platform that Cementoss had created, with its height being a little more noticeable next to some of the others. A few quick hops up some "hand-made" platforms of her own had her standing on a fairly plain looking blank patch of land.

For a few moments, as for some reason Ectoplasm had not immediately followed her up, Kaori took the opportunity to watch some of her other classmates training in action. That was short-lived however as the hairs on the back of her neck seemed to rise of their own accord, similarly to how they done so when Blink had used her teleportation on her the first day they met. This feeling caused her to whirl around with her Quirk immediately active and coating her forearms with enlarged projections not a moment too soon, as the prosthetic limb of an Ectoplasm clone came slamming down across her crossed arms. She then quickly backpedaled towards the edge of the platform to gain distance from her attacker. A quick glance showed that three separate clones had been sent up to face her, with the one in front calmly standing up straight as it recovered from its assault.

"It appears that the different types of training you've received have helped your reflexes and sense of warning. That's good." The clone on the right spoke up.

"But that's not all we'll be testing on you for the remaining ten days before the term starts. We also need to improve on your ability to think fast no matter the situation as well as your ability to retaliate from a sudden attack." The left one spoke up. "The opening you left that we could have exploited when you didn't immediately perform a counter-offensive would have been your undoing had we been Villains."

"And that's why you'll be too busy dealing with multiple of us to pay attention to what your classmates are doing." The third and final clone stated. "It's a good thing the rest of your class is only going to be using one of us at a time. Your Quirk's endurance as well as your own ingenuity are going to be put to the test quite heavily."

Kaori could fee a bead of sweat trail down her head as a lump formed in her throat. But that feeling quickly passed as she took a deep, calming breath before taking up a stance familiar to her. A small smirk graced her lips as she saw, only for a moment, her mentor Maki standing before her with his own stance ready.

"Then bring it on."

Those words were immediately regretted as two of the clones came at her at once with their full strength. Kaori barely had time to try and brace herself before being forcefully tackled off of the platform and out into open air, being as close to the edge as she had happened to position herself. The two clones immediately dissipated as they few out into open space with her. Just as her trajectory started to point downwards, she quickly whirled around to materialize a platform under her before her speed grew too dangerous to outright stop like that.

"As I said, your reaction time is good." The voice of the third clone that didn't throw itself off the cliff and disappear spoke from above her. The only reason she didn't immediately turn to glare at it was the need to maintain the platform she was on or continue falling. "But your lack of a follow-up or means to quickly return to the field severely limits your ability to act in a crisis situation. Bring yourself back up here and we'll try again."

Kaori quickly made her way back up via a light toss from her projected hand with a frown on her face as she landed on the platform once more. "Considering my Quirk lets me throw around giant versions of my body parts, how is that NOT considered a follow-up?"

"If you become too focused on certain ways of using your abilities, you'll just end up in the same position as Heroes like Mt. Lady. While your Quirk is incredibly versatile in a more open space, you have to consider the options when you are forced into a more enclosed area. You've already shown that you have the rough ideas for how to use your Quirk in a more close-quarters scenario, but we need to focus that further to it becoming just as common-thought as your larger projections are." A few seconds later, two replacement clones rose to the platform alongside the first one. "Now, let's try again; if we notice that you start to make improvements in that regard, we'll work on improving how much of your body you can manifest at the same time."

"Wait, like using my entire body all at once?" Kaori got a confused look on her face as she glanced down at her body as well as her costume. "But I can't exactly use much more than my legs and arms with the way my Quirk works, it needs the light to get out somehow to actually stabilize the projection somehow. I was already lucky enough as it is that a bit of the light gets out through the brighter fabric of these boots, but I can't exactly do a full-body projection or anything like this. I can't even rely on using leg projections as much as my arms either because of the extra effort it takes to maintain them as it is."

"Did you not think you would need to make upgrades to your costumes like your classmates?" One of the clones inquired as it launched itself at her, forcing her automatically on the defensive as she coated her arms once again and blocked the attack – without being launched off the platform thankfully.

"The moment you make your mind up about something before considering it as an option is the moment you eliminate your chance to improve." One of the other clones stated before it too launched itself at Kaori, who responded by shoving off the first clone before fading her arm projections and immediately lighting up one of her hands and grabbing at the two clones at once thanks to quick-thinking and throwing the first roughly in the same direction the second was coming from.

Unfortunately, due to how focused she had been on the second clone and capturing the two at once, she missed the third one sprinting out in a wide circle approach to enter her blind spot. This ended in a painful slam into Kaori's side as the third and final clone full-on tackled her off the cliff once more, much to her frustration.

It seemed like this was going to be a repeating thing for the next few days, as well as how often Ectoplasm would remind her of her quick thinking and close-mindedness.

* * *

Kaori couldn't help but mope a little bit as she walked alongside Kirishima and Kaminari towards Power Loader's office. They'd already been warned by Uraraka and Iida about the pink-haired girl from the Sports Festival being there as well, but that didn't concern Kaori as she knew that what she needed to have done didn't involve using any bizarre gadgets in any way. Hopefully she would at least be able to get it changed quickly while she worked on some other possible techniques in the meantime. Secretly, Kaori had always wanted to use more a full-body projection at some point, but the only times she'd ever had success with that was when she had tried creating a sort of "imaginary friend" when she was taking a bath one day and accidentally spilling some water out of the tub with the extra mass of the duplicate raising the water enough to make a bit of a mess. Needless to say…running around practically naked to fully utilize her Quirk didn't exactly appeal to her all that much, not to mention it being illegal as learned from Heroes like Midnight and how their Quirks functioned.

As the other two spoke to Hatsume about ideas for their costumes, as well as the girl making some weird suggestions using some of her own gadgets, Kaori informed Power Loader about her requests as to her costume.

"Something to let the light through, huh?" The shorter man pondered as he looked over the manual for Kaori's costume. "Well obviously I can't help much with that since it would require a full redesign of your outfit by someone that knows a thing or two about tailoring, but there are some unique materials out there like what Eraserhead's scarf is made of. I'm sure if I reach out that someone will be able to fulfill the request to put together a new getup but it'll likely takes longer to show depending on the kind of feedback I get."

"If it means I can use my Quirk better, it doesn't matter how long it takes. Anything to help me use more of my body with my Quirk without getting indecent is the ideal." Kaori replied as she awkwardly rubbed one arm.

"Did you say you needed something to use your Quirk on more of your body? I've been working on a stealth suit lately that would do just the thing!" Hatsume's voice came from obnoxiously close to Kaori as she held out what looked like a black catsuit in her direction. She then reached over to a small button on one of the costume's hips before the material started to flicker and fade before becoming practically invisible, save for a few…sensitive parts of the female anatomy.

"I need something that let's my Quirk out WITHOUT me being practically naked!" Kaori practically snapped as she quickly backpedaled away from the all-too exhibitionist outfit.

"Yeah," Hatsume replied calmly. "Those laws around how much Heroes can reveal can really get in the way of creative genius sometimes." She carelessly tossed the suit back into her pile of "babies" before turning back to a somewhat blushing Kirishima and Kaminari.

"It's a matter of being decent, you weirdo!" Kaori's eyes lit up in a moment of remembrance soon after. "And don't tell anybody from Class 1-B about that outfit! Especially a short, weird-looking kid with grapes on his head!"

Kirishima tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Why's that?"

Kaori's face grew dark for a moment. "Because if what I heard from Kendo and Shiozaki is true…then they've got the devil of all perverts in their class." Kaori shuddered as she tried to calmly wait for the other two to finish. "I do NOT need to think about what that outfit could do in the wrong hands."

* * *

As the week carried on, they all continued to practice their techniques and abilities as a means to find out what new tricks they could show off eventually. Eventually, Kaori was finally able to put together a few moves she had always imagined using when she was younger. But, like everyone else, she was keeping them a secret for the Provisional License Exam to really show them off in all their glory, though it was likely that some of her classmates might have seen them in passing given how flashy her Quirk was. Some moves were more "spectacular" than others, but that hardly mattered to Kaori aside from the importance of one move in particular.

After all, it was her biggest effort at honoring one of the most important people in her life. And that alone made her sleep peacefully the night before they would all be put to the test against other Hero schools in the country. Even if it wasn't perfected yet, she had a baseline for what to work with. And one day, she would get to put it to use. It was too bad that the License Exam was so close, otherwise she might have been able to finish it in time.


	36. Chapter 36

The bus ride to the site of their Provisional License Exam was met with constant anticipation and excitement from the entire class as the buildings flew by. Not a single person wasn't looking forward to proving their mettle and moving onto the next stage of their time at Yuuei. Obviously there was a sense of nervousness – at least for some of them – that made those worry about possible "what if's" about today's trials, but that was quickly squashed as the massive building came into view and everyone piled out of the vehicle once they came to a stop.

The site of a large boy from Shiketsu slamming his head hard enough into the ground to draw blood didn't stop Kaori from feeling a little worried at just how…enthusiastic…some people could get in situations like these. It made her wonder just what kinds of Quirks they would go up against as well as just how much more practice other students taking the test would have given many would be in their second and third years of Hero training.

* * *

After a very tired-sounding description of how the first stage of the exam was going to start, Kaori was moving along with most of her classmates as the timer counted down for the start of the test. She was a little miffed that Kirishima hadn't stuck with the group, but she couldn't blame him for running off after Bakugo when the hot-tempered boy ditched their larger group in favour of his own hunting. Kaminari following after them as well as Todoroki heading off on his own (not really too surprising there on the flip side) left a sizeable portion of her classmates still grouped together to watch each other's backs once things began.

What Kaori hadn't expected was a VERY large group of students immediately targeting them once the battle began. In hindsight, she would realize it made sense given how publicized Yuuei had been in recent months between the Sports Festival and other events like the attack on the USJ. But in that moment all that mattered was survival as they were bombarded from all sides.

For a moment, things seemed risky as one of the other students used his Quirk along with another's to launch a barrage of hardened projectiles underground. Thankfully Jiro was able to reveal their path by obliterating the ground they were travelling through using her new costume. That didn't stop the balls that were coming at them however, and the path they were taking was less than usual with the curve they were flying at. But that didn't matter as them being visible was all Kaori needed to throw up a projection and grab all of the balls out of the air at once.

"Aw, come on, Kaori!" Mina shouted from her side with her arms slightly raised. "I was JUST about to use one of my new super moves!"

Kaori was about to respond as she glanced over towards her friend when her eyes widened at something beyond the pink-haired girl's view. "You might just get your chance, Mina, behind you!"

"What do you m-" Mina turned in the direction Kaori was looking before her own eyes widened and she flung her arms in an arch releasing acid from her hands. "Max-Acidity, Max-Adhesion!" She then turned back to Kaori briefly with a grateful look. "Thanks for the heads-up!"

Kaori looked back towards the large group of students around them, quickly appraising the situation and trying to figure out some way that she could help the scenario using her Quirk even with her ability to react to every angle being limited. It was as she did this that she noticed some of the students were a little more tightly packed then the others.

"They're too bunched up, but I think I can make an opening! Once I use my Quirk, everyone follow me and we'll break through!" Without waiting for a response, she forced her Quirk to activate fast and strong, something that months earlier would have left her with a small headache afterwards but this time was only met with the tiniest of twinges in the front of her mind before it passed. "Meteor Impact!" As she shouted it, a massive fist formed a bit above the more tightly packed students and started to descend towards them Kaori swung her arm down. Had it not been for the fact that these students had already seen their Quirk's in action, many wouldn't have thought to look above and dodge out of the way, but Kaori's intent hadn't been to squish them – just to make them create an open space for her and her class to rush out of. "Now! There's a gap in their circle!" But before they could start moving too much, one of the other students out called from a different direction.

"Out of the way, guys! They've got too strong a defense for us to break through! Our only chance is to separate them!" The boy's hands were then planted firmly on the ground before he shouted loudly, "Max Power! Underground Shockwave!"

Had Kaori had a few more seconds to react he might have been able to get away from the attack, but she was already in motion along with some of her class that had overheard her shout and was unable to properly respond to the sudden tremor and blast that sent them all flying. The only person she was able to latch onto was Mina as the two of them had been standing close together when it had all happened.

* * *

As the dust settled and Kaori coughed out some dirt from her mouth that she'd accidentally inhaled, she looked around to see if she or Mina were in any immediate danger. Seeing that they were safe for the time being, she glanced over and gave her friend nudge on the arm with her foot.

"It's all clear for now, we should get moving."

"Got it, but what about the others?" Mina replied as she got to her feet.

" **57 students have now passed, please hurry and finish this test already!** "

Kaori winced at the proclamation. "We don't have the time to check on the others, they'll be fine. We need to worry about ourselves and get some targets already before all the spots are taken."

"But how are we supposed to do that? We're outnumbered and these are people that have had more time to come up with combos with their Quirks and planning their moves compared to us."

Kaori thought to herself before a light-bulb went off as she remembered a scenario she had been in not long ago. A small smirk found it's way onto her face within the next few moments. "Not as much planning as you'd think. Sure they've had more time to organize their Quirks, but there's only so much they can prearrange for a scenario they don't have total control over. They may have the element of surprise, but all we have to do is outmaneuver them and find a way to exploit any opening we can get."

"I've seen that look on people before." Mina commented with a knowing grin. "What do you have in mind?"

"We're going to set up a little ambush on the fly. We just need to get somewhere that has a lot of corners and cover."

* * *

It took the two of them a minute or so to silently make their way to a less chaotic section of earth and rubble, but the two quickly stopped as they noticed a group of students arguing amongst themselves as they clambered over rubble in the distance, unaware of their presence.

"You know what you did! That was going to be my third target and you just had to make sure you were one step closer to finishing before I could, huh?!" A boy slightly their senior snapped.

"It's not my fault your aim sucks! Or that you're lousy at dodging a ball! It's your own fault you've only got one target that hasn't been hit, I've only lost one of mine so far after that earthquake scattered everyone!" A young girl snapped back at the yelling boy.

"Would the two of you SHUT IT?! There's still a bunch of those Yuuei newbies scrambling around out there and I would like it if we could finish this part of the test and move on! I've only got one target left on me as well as two hits to get on other students still! You can sort out your sexual tension another time!" A third student, another girl snapped at the two of them as she massaged her temples.

"THERE IS NO SEXUAL TENSION!" Both of them shouted at once.

" _Are they supposed to be friends or something?_ " Mina whispered from next to Kaori as they knelt just behind some debris, barely out of view. " _Or did we just find some extended family of Bakugo's?_ "

Kaori had to fight – hard – to keep from snorting loudly and giving away their position as she flailed her arm in Mina's direction with a tight-lipped smile. After pausing for a few moments to calm herself and catch her breath she took another quick peak to see if they had moved yet. Seeing that they were now being a bit quieter and trying to form a plan themselves, Kaori turned to Mina.

" _Alright, we know that they're starting to get desperate. And that they've already lost a few targets to other fights. We can use that to our advantage to make it easier to take them out. I'm going to step out and lure them over here, and while I'm doing that you make the ground around here extra slippery so that they lose their balance when I lure them over._ "

" _Why not just grab them with your Quirk and pin them? Wouldn't that be way easier?_ " Mina whispered back with a confused look.

" _I can't risk my hands getting injured from some surprise Quirk I don't know about. Besides, there's a good chance I'd cover at a few of their targets depending on where they placed them. So once we've got them off-balance and stunned, ideally, you'll use something similar to your Max-Adhesion to bind them and make it easier to tap their targets._ "

" _Sounds good, then we'll both get two targets and only need to worry about one more each to finish._ "

" _Nope, I'll grab one and then you grab the other three to finish up. My Quirk gives me a bigger advantage than yours would on its own, and this way at least one of us makes it through for sure."_

" _Not happening. I'm not letting you go solo when I can provide backup against people we know nothing about. Being an idiot is Kaminari's job when he's used his Quirk too much._ "

Kaori stared at Mina's hardened expression for a moment before her shoulders sagged with a sigh. " _Fine, but don't blame me if time runs out before we can find more targets._ "

Mina gave her a thumbs-up as she winked playfully. " _You got it, partner!_ "

Kaori could only shake her head with an amused expression as she stood up and stepped out from behind their cover. "You guys done bickering over there? Or should I give you a few more minutes to work things out?"

"What the?" The girl who had been trying to act as the mediator startled as she turned towards Kaori's voice. "Seriously?! You're going to take on three students that are your seniors when you don't have the advantage of knowing what our Quirks are while we know all about yours since you're from Yuuei? What kind of idiot are you?!"

"Oh, no one special. But clearly I'm better at keeping myself in check if all it takes to set you three off is a bit of a spin on a massive game of dodgeball."

"You realize that there's no way in hell you'll be able to stop all three of us, right?"

"Oh, I don't know about that~" Kaori replied with a singsong voice. "After all, I only need three targets and I overheard how between the three of you that there's still four available. Meanwhile I've only got three and four is how many you all need to pass. How easily do you think the three of you can beat me when you're climbing over each other to try and catch me?"

"Catch you? Why would we-" The boy had a confused look on his face.

"Bye!" Kaori didn't let him finish as she sprinted back behind the rubble, narrowly avoiding the trail of slime Mina had formed by crafting a quick platform network using her Quirk like she had gotten so used to doing. One of the many perks of their extra training and time to hone their Quirks over the past few days. Not a moment later she could hear the three of them bickering as they chased after her with reckless abandon. As the three of them turned the corner, the girl that still had two targets left was in the lead and was the first unfortunate victim as she sailed along Mina's path and slammed face first into a vertical slab of rubble that Mina had coated with more of her Quirk, though this mixture was far more sticky and durable as the girl struggled to move slightly before realizing she was stuck fast. Unfortunately, the shriek she had released upon hitting the patch of slime caused her teammates to hold fast on their approach, leaving two quite capable opponents for Kaori and Mina to deal with.

"Thought you'd pull one over on us by luring us all into a trap, huh?" The "leader" of the group stated with a smirk. "It's clever, I'll give you that. But it's not gonna cut it unfortunately. Not with the match-up you just put yourselves into."

"It's two-on-two; I don't see what the big issue here is." Mina replied confidently.

"Oh? How can you be so sure?" The boy replied before his body started to vibrate rapidly and duplicates of himself shunted out of either side of him. "It seemed to me like we're still at a bit of an advantage. I will say though, you are quite lucky with who you managed to get trapped already. Akane would've had a huge advantage if she were able to fight. Too bad she's such an idiot and got too far ahead for her own good."

"Shut it, Arata!"

"Ignoring her, why don't you do the honors, Ahmya?"

"Don't get all arrogant and think you're the boss now. But fine, I'll follow your instructions this time around since there's no real point in not doing it anyways."

The second girl, Ahmya, then took a deep breath with her entire torso tilting back somewhat as she held it for a few moments before she tipped forwards and let it out, spewing a dark cloud of black smoke into the air, obscuring the her and the boy(s?) Arata from view. The smoke then continued to flow as it covered Mina and Kaori as well, cutting off most of their vision as well as any idea of what direction their opponents would come from.

"Mina!" Kaori shouted to her side where she knew her friend still was. "Run back out of the smoke and find a way to stop that girl from spewing more of it! I'll deal with clone-boy!"

"You sure?" Mina's voice came from her side, though it already seemed to be moving away from her.

"I'll manage! Just go get rid of this smoke so we have more visibility!"

"Don't be so sure about that!" The boy's voice came from her front-left side as a hand clenching a rubber ball appeared from the darkness and headed towards her abdomen where one of her targets lay. Kaori narrowly avoided the impact with a quick sidestep to the right, only for another ball to slap down onto her right shoulder and another of her targets, leaving her with only two chances left to survive the test. "I've definitely had more practice in near-darkness then you have. There's no way you'll make it out of this one!"

Kaori smirked in general, being that she had no idea precisely which direction her opponent was at the moment. "We'll see about that. I've had some pretty strong mentors teaching me a few things over the last few months."

* * *

 **Finally, we are amidst the Provisional License Exam. This is easily one of the parts I was looking forward to doing the most as it's just a crazy ride of Quirks and tactics that we get to see going off. Next chapter I will *try* to get out a little sooner, but I won't blame anyone for not holding their breath based on my recent track record.**


	37. Chapter 37

" _This isn't going like I hoped it would._ " Kaori thought to herself as she narrowly managed to dodge another attack from either Arata or one of his clones. " _This was supposed to be a quick snatch and grab with them too caught up in finishing the test. Why did one of them have to be an overachiever and rush ahead?_ " Kaori fought the urge to slap the palm of her hand into her head as she was currently predisposed. " _Damnit, how did I miss that?! The whole reason I thought of this literally RELIED on them wanting to scramble over each other._ "

"What the hell?" The boy's voice snapped Kaori's head around as she spun to attempt to deflect another of his surprise attacks. "Why's your shoulder already tagged?" The boy was so confused that he had actually stopped attacking Kaori and was simply standing there looking at her with a puzzled look.

Kaori wondered for a moment if it was possible for her to be even more confused than him even as she kept her ears peeled for sounds of another one of him approaching from the cloud they both stood in. "What are you talking about, you hit m-" Her eyes snapped wide with realization before finishing that thought as she realized something was suddenly very wrong with this scene.

Barely a minute or two earlier, she and Mina had been eavesdropping on the trio trying to figure out what to do next. And she had completely forgotten one very important detail once the battle between them had started. Arata only needed one target to move through…

So where had the ball that hit her shoulder come from?! And how had it gotten her through the thick, black cloud that had obscured everything outside?!

"Shit!" The boy cursed before ducking away from Kaori's field of view and disappeared once again. His voice echoed through the abyss as Kaori waited, expecting another attack to come at her from any direction. "So much for playing around with you newbies, we've gotta finish this before we lose this chance! Ahmya! Drop the smoke! Someone else is sniping us through it and I need visibility back!"

"Oh, really?!" The girl, Ahmya, snapped back. "I didn't notice the balls sailing past me and this acid girl while you were busy playing around in there!"

Suddenly, a loud inhaling sound filled the air as the cloud thinned out and travelled back into the girl's mouth. Not that Kaori had very long to wonder what that must feel like, given how all three Arata's were now charging her at once, and in too close a proximity for her to create a large enough obstacle between them.

But that would have been a bigger issue months or even weeks ago BEFORE she had done a lot of trial and error with her Quirk over the summer. She was, surprisingly, very thankful for the trial-by-fire approach the school had taken with them despite everything that had happened that year. Without missing a beat, Kaori's eyes burst into their telltale purple hue as her forearms both began to do the same.

"Nice try!" The Arata on the right said. "But you'll never get one of your objects in play soon enough to stop us!"

"We're already too close for you to stop us!" The one on the left gloated with a smirk. Kaori could only allow a smirk of her own to fill her face as the glow on her arms snapped out of existence.

"Made you look."

In the seconds that followed, a loud howl of pain filled the air as Kaori swung her left leg up – now aglow from her Quirk as she quickly switched what she was replicating – and a projection of her foot SLAMMED into the centre of Arata's groin with a sickening crack. The other two Arata's winced with the same pained expression as the first before being pulled back into the boy's body as he crumpled to the ground holding himself.

Kaori whipped her head over to where she roughly remembered the smoke girl standing, hoping that Mina was still in the fight or even finished her own. Unfortunately, at that moment Ahmya breathed a small puff of black smoke into Mina's face, blinding her as Ahmya caught her in the abdomen with a powerful spin-kick. Her friend tumbled across the dirt with the wind knocked out of her even as the other slowly turned to face her with a passing glance to her teammate.

"Went for the weak point, huh?" The girl winced ever so slightly as Arata curled into himself a little more, almost protectively. "Oh well, doesn't really matter when I take out one of your targets and move on. After all, I have the advan-" Her sentence was never able to finish as Kaori lashed out with her Quirk and grappled onto the girl's neck with a grip strong enough to prevent her from breathing heavily, but not enough to entirely choke her out.

"No more smoke clouds, if you don't mind." Kaori said before turning her attention to her classmate out of the corner of her vision. "You alright, Mina?"

"Yeah, all good. Just a little tender in the stomach from that kick. Man am I glad I went with a light breakfast this morning or that would NOT have ended well."

"Thinking about food now of all times? Weird sense of priorities don't you think?" The sight and sound of a body slowly moving on the ground in front of her caught her attention as she fought to keep her eyes ahead as much as possible. "You mind doing me a favour and slapping one of your balls on this guy here before he gets up and outs me?" A groan left her mouth at the look Mina gave her. "Oh, just get with it."

Mina looked past her as her eyes widened, her hand quickly reaching for a ball hanging from her belt before sprinting over. A quick application of the ball on the boy's remaining target as he started to move had its light fade out, signaling his removal from the exam. She then turned back to Kaori as she stood back up straight. "Sorry I couldn't help more, she put up more of a fight than I expected with her Quirk."

"Well, I put a stop to that so let's finish getting these targets and hope we can find two more before the 100 spots fill up and we have to explain to Mr. Aizawa how we failed." As she finished, Kaori continued to hold onto Ahmya to prevent her from breathing out her Quirk or getting away while walking towards her and placing one of her balls on the girl's only remaining target as well. She then let her Quirk go as the girl stumbled to catch her footing and breath while giving her a dirty look. "Now to grab the two that the girl who got stuck has."

As the two Class A students turned to face the girl they had managed to capture, both of them gained a bothered expression as well as a moment of hesitation. As it turned out, the way the girl had gotten stuck to Mina's adhesive slime left her two remaining targets completely exposed. Unfortunately, the girl's choice of placement was…interesting. As she had decided to place them directly on her butt cheeks.

"I…just…why?!" Kaori raked her fingers through her hair with an exasperated look even as she and Mina slowly approached the trapped student.

"For the exact reason that you two are reacting right now, duh!" The girl, Akane, stated with a proud tone. "A single moment's hesitation is all you need to secure the win and the moment someone pauses seeing where my targets are is when I get an advantage and can take them by surprise. Pretty ingenious, huh?"

"Yeah…except for when something like this happens and you end up coming across like some giant perv." Mina commented without her usual cheerfulness. This whole situation was just…messed up. "How are we even supposed to do this? Toru wouldn't care given how touchy she is, but even I feel like this is crossing a line."

"Just…put it on and let's get out of here so that we can forget about it. I just want to get past this test already." Kaori shuddered as she pulled out another of the rubber balls they had been given for the exam.

"Sounds fine to me…but I'm holding you responsible if this scars me."

"Don't worry; I'm pretty sure I'll be right there with you."

Unfortunately, this would prove true as a strong moan would escape the girl the moment the two of them placed the balls on her targets to eliminate her. Something told Kaori that they might have just found the next generation of their teacher Midnight in that exam…and she prayed that she would one day be able to forget about it entirely.

Thankfully they would at least receive a brief distraction in the form of a large beam of light lancing up into the skies above.

"Kaori, that's Aoyama's Quirk! And it's note far from here!"

"Well hopefully anybody else that's left recognizes it because that's probably our only chance to regroup!"

* * *

A short sprint later, Kaori and Mina were reunited with various members of Class A as everyone allowed their Quirks to run wild, eliminating opponent after opponent in the barrage of abilities that got thrown around after Kota's distraction with a large flock of pigeons.

"Body Barrage!"

All of Kaori's extremities seemed to glow at once with how quickly she switched from launching a fist or a foot at a further off enemy and coating herself in larger limbs to deliver knockout blows to examinees in her immediate reach. After a chaotic series of attacks delivered by her and those of her classmates, everyone was able to finish collecting targets and move onto the next stage of the exam. By the end of it, Kaori could feel a slight twinge in the back of her mind from the sheer amount of rapid use of her Quirk she had just gone through. The time they had spent both in the camp with the Pussycats as well as her being assaulted by so many Ectoplasms in days past really had helped in how much of a strain her Quirk put on her. She could already tell that her limit was much higher than it used to be, and she hoped it would be a long time before it ever got pushed so hard again. But a part of her knew that it was wishful to think that, especially given how their lives had been since going to Yuuei.

* * *

"Hey Kaori, you doing alright there?" Mina's voice caught her attention as they all slowly marched towards the place that all of the other students to finish the first stage had gone.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just surprised how much that training over the summer has helped." Kaori commented while looking down at her open hands. "I knew going to Yuuei would be tough and that it would help us improve, but I never expected it to be this noticeable this quickly. The things I can do with my Quirk now…they're things that I could only dream about as a kid. It's…incredible." A slight burning sensation filled Kaori's chest as she ran an arm across her eyes quickly to prevent any tears from showing. But when she pulled her arm away it was completely dry. It was then that she realized that the warm feeling wasn't a sign of tears.

It was a sign of pride. Even though they had hardly finished the exam and gotten any indication of whether or not they would even get licenses, Kaori felt on top of the world in that moment as she realized how much she had grown in the last year. It still hurt to think back on the day her father died and the years of fear and anguish she had felt following that night, but she was one step closer to the light she had been reaching for since she was young.

Now she just had to keep moving forward.

* * *

Due to the short amount of time between the end of the first test and the start of the second, Kaori knew that there wasn't a lot of time to prepare for the rescue operations they were about to undertake. When the testing area had been blasted into bits and reduced to various states of rubble and debris, she had felt that familiar sense of dread that she had felt both as a child and in Kamino the night they had gone to rescue Bakugou. What was different this time was the fact that once she felt it she had leapt on it in an attempt to grapple it into submission before it paralyzed her and left her useless like it had each time prior. If she was going to prove anything at this point, both for the sake of the test but also to herself, she needed to be able to act past the fear of her own accord. Each time prior she had either been too young to do anything anyways, or had someone else snap her attention back so that she could focus at the current situation better. Given that her own Quirk was so directly tied to her focus that was a battle she couldn't afford to lose so easily to anymore.

And so it was that once the walls collapsed around them to signal the start of the exercise, Kaori was one of the first ones sprinting into the field to determine what was going on. It became quickly apparent that with how much ground to cover they were lacking on better intel as to the general state of things. What they needed more than anything was recon to get a better scope of things. And there was only one other person Kaori knew of off-hand that could assist in such a thing. Kaori glanced around attempting to find the one person she knew that was best suited to help, eventually finding them standing with a few of her other classmates as they looked for some way to help.

"Shoji!" Kaori yelled to the multi-talented member of their class. "I need your help with something!"

As soon as he heard his name called, the masked boy swiveled his head around to where the sound came from and immediately started moving quickly in her direction. As he neared, his deep voice came out from behind his trademark piece of clothing.

"What do you need help with, Kaori?" The boy asked with a curious tone. "I would have imagined you would already be aiding in moving larger pieces of debris with your Quirk."

"I will in a bit, but what we need right now is intel. Without a birds-eye view we don't have the best idea of where people might be short of walking around every piece of rubble blocking our view. So I'm going to use my Quirk to get you more easily up to a higher vantage point to call out people's locations."

"Sounds like a plan." Shoji then gestured with one of his arms towards a relatively undamaged structure not too far from their current location that had a decent height to it. "That structure there seems like the best option immediately available to us. Just let me know when you're ready to lift me up."

* * *

After helping Shoji up to the structure he had instructed on, he had immediately noticed a pair of trapped H.U.C. members poking out from a scattered pile of rubble that no one else was currently close to. A quick nod of thanks and Kaori had sprinted off in the direction he had pointed, taking deep breaths as she went to keep herself in the zone. Every moment she could feel that squirmy feeling that disaster sites always gave her, but as soon as she saw a hand poking above some broken concrete everything seemed to fade away as she honed in on the body part she could see. As she crested a pile of rubble, she saw an older man kneeing next to a young boy that had what looked like blood coming from the top of his head. The two of them were both in the middle of a sizeable clearing, which made Kaori breathe a sigh of relief as it meant she wouldn't have to worry about loose debris falling anywhere near them. The older man looked bruised as well, but noticeably in better shape than the boy.

"Sir! Are you injured at all?" Kaori called out from the pile as she slowly made her way down and closer to the two bodies. If there was one thing that was helping her right now with her past experiences of disaster zones coming back to her mind, it was the sight of a Hero checking to see if her and her mother were alright when they had been discovered after her father had died. "What about the boy?"

"My left arm hurts to move, but I'm otherwise okay! But this child seems to be badly hurt on the head and won't wake up no matter what I try! He was all alone and I don't know if his parents happen to be nearby!"

" _Man, they are seriously into this routine._ " Kaori thought to herself as she reached the bottom of the pile. " _But if his arm hurts then he can still walk. I just need to pick up the boy and then I can get the two of them out of he-"_ Once she was about thirty feet away from the two of them, her body stumbled as a portion of the ground she walked on shifted underneath her. What she hadn't expected to follow that was the harsh voice that suddenly came from the boy's body.

"You idiot! Shouldn't something have tipped you off that something was wrong if an old man that can walk wasn't moving from where he currently was? If you had just taken a quick glance around rather than walking straight towards the first thing you saw, you would have noticed the sign for an underground subway literally just off to your left!" Kaori cursed under her breath as she glanced in said direction and noticed the sign, plain as day. "Large chunks of the ground here are unstable and can't handle any weight on them from all of the damage. Use your head next time!"

" _Damnit, he's right._ " Kaori berated herself as she glanced around in case anything else was off. " _I'm supposed to be one of the more focused members of our class and here I am making a complete fool of myself by not doing what I'm normally good at._ " _I'm glad at least that Nozomi can't see this…she would have given me an earful for not watching better after the week I had with her._ "

"In that case, I'm going to need the two of you to remain completely still, okay? I'll get the two of you out of there as soon as I can!" As she finished speaking, Kaori focused her Quirk to create two platforms around the size of a large sidewalk block on both sides of the two civilians. With a deep breath, she carefully moved on of her hands so that one of the projections was gently resting right next to the boy.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to help me with this using your good arm. I can't tell from here what state his head injury is, so I need you to VERY GENTLY lift his head up enough for me to slide my hand under him. Can you do that for me?"

"I think I can manage. But what are you going to do after that?"

"Once he's safe, I'll have you step on to the other hand there and I'll lift both of you away from there so that the both of you can be brought somewhere safer to treat your injuries better. Does that sound alright to you?"

The old man nodded as he leaned over the boy and gently placed a hand under his head before tilting it up slightly. "Like this?"

"Perfect."

* * *

After a somewhat tense series of moments where Kaori gently lifted the two of them away from the unstable area, she was once again approaching the building Shoji was stood atop of. Beside her the old man was moving at a good pace, while on her other side she continued to have one of her projections formed as she held the boy up completely flat to avoid disturbing his "head injury" in any way. As much as she had appreciated them telling her what she had done wrong, she really didn't need to be told off by a kid again.

"Shoji!" Kaori called out the boy's name again as she neared. "Where are they taking all of the civilians?!"

Shoji pointed back towards where the test had started just as he finished instructing another examinee as to the location of another H.U.C. member. "Over there! I just saw Midoriya carrying a young boy in that direction!" Just as Kaori began to move in said direction, Shoji's voice caught her attention as he spoke up once again. "Before you go, I would appreciate a quick assistance with descending the building and aiding in the rescue efforts more directly now that we've gotten a better scope of the area."

"Alright, just one moment." Kaori focused her free hand into a platform for Shoji to step onto before quickly lowering him to the ground where he gave a quick nod before sprinting off in another direction. Kaori then turned her attention back to the older H.U.C. member standing at her side patiently. "Okay, let's go."

As the three of them neared the staging area, Kaori was momentarily shocked at the sheer number of people already being treated by those that had stayed behind to use their Quirk's better suited for treated the injured than heading out into the disaster site.

That shock was quickly drowned out by a much greater surprise as a portion of the wall further away exploded open, revealing a large group of people wearing black bodysuits and led by a massive man that looked to be part-whale if Kaori had to take a guess.

"Guys! The scenario of the exercise, it's…" Midoriya's voice carried out from not far away from where Kaori stood frozen, thankfully with enough presence of mind to remain focused on her projection so that the boy didn't suddenly tumble to the ground. "Gang Orca!"

" **Villains have appeared out of the woodworks to give chase!** " The voice of the man in charge of the exam spoke over the loudspeakers. " **All would-be heroes on the scene, kindly suppress the villains while at the same time continuing relief efforts.** "

" _So this is it._ " Kaori thought as she felt that pit of dread swell just a little bit bigger inside of her. " _This is the REAL test._ "

" **HOW WILL YOU REACT!?** " Gang Orca's deep voice echoed across the area. " **OH HEROES!** "

Kaori felt like a ball of lead had just fallen into her stomach as she tried to stay calm. Her eyes trained forwards, she silently carried the young boy towards the makeshift triage area before informing someone there of the injuries to the young boy and the old man. With a hesitant look in her eyes she turned in the direction of the large group of "Villains" that had appeared.

"Excuse me, young miss?" The voice of the older man caught Kaori off-guard as she turned to him with a confused look. "What's your name?"

"My name?" Kaori's voice was filled with confusion. "It's Kaori, why-"

"That's not what I meant, young lady." The man gave her a critical look. "What. Is your name?"

It took a few seconds before a look of realization crossed Kaori's eyes and she felt a renewed sense of determination fill her. A smile found it's was onto her face as she started to turn towards the large mass of attackers. "My name?"

"It's Annex."

* * *

 **Okay, so my priorities somehow got completely buggered in the last month, which resulted in a much longer break than I am proud of occurring to this stories updates. As a pseudo-apology, I made sure to take the time and effectively turn this into a roughly 2-chapter length portion to make up for lost time. There was no way I was releasing what I had at first after almost an entire month. So hopefully that at least partially makes up for my horrible procrastinating somehow swinging full-force there and keeping you guys in the dark. Next update should be (and will if I keep my head on straight) in roughly two weeks to keep us back on track.**

 **Otherwise, I hope you've all enjoyed the ride thus far and are happy seeing more of Kaori's growth and underlying issues come more into play in this segment of the story.**


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